... to think it is a bit stupid and actually very selfish to sail off the East coast of Africa when you're very, very likely to be captured by Somali pirates??

[SCARYspicemonster]

Another couple and their boat have gone missing, on their way from the Seychelles to Tanzania. Just accept that it's a bit bloody dangerous round there at the moment and that you may not be able to fulfil your dream of going round the world. Alright?

mite be stupid, its up to them tho, isnt it
if they wanna take the risk then fair play to them

Absolutely. I am with you. They said they thought it would be alright to sail off the coast of Somalia because the weather had changed? Like a bit of rain is going to put these people off.

Not to mention all the resources now having to be put in place to negotiate their release.

what's crazy is that the navy can do nothing to stop the pirates until they attempt to capture a boat.

But it isn't just them harleyd! There's a huge bloody international operation to find them. The French couple that were kidnapped had their ransom paid by Sarkozy.

(i saw it on tv with ross kemp you know)

southeastastra - the coastline is over 1000 miles long. Somalia barely has a government it is lawless state in most parts. How are they meant to stop pirates?

Exactly Scary, it's all the resources being used here in Nairobi to secure these people's release. Resources that could be better used elsewhere.

These gangs are highly organised, operating in an anarchic society with no laws. It's almost impossible to stop them.

Also it fuels even more kidnapping attempts, when ransoms are paid. Kidnapping has now spread to the mainland.

But perhaps they have been reading Mumsnet and think pirates are "nice" and "fun" and not murdering thieving rapist bastards at all, a viewpoint shown quite often in this thread

BalloonSlayer

Well, actually, so what?

What's wrong with doing stupid or dangerous things in life?

People can do whatever they want in their lives.

If there's an international operation to find them than someone has made that decision to do that. A decision not to could have just as well been made.

A lot more international funds are wasted every year on all sorts of other pointless useless things.

And I am of the opinion that there is not a single thing anyone does in their lives that isn't selfishly motivated.

Everything we do is selfish.

The impression that I had (although it's only what I've gleaned from a news report) was that they had actually chosen a traditionally 'safe' route which has only become more dangerous because the pirates have been forced further off the coast by the presence of navy patrols ?

I agree that the money/effort being spent could be utilised elsewhere BUT I think life IS full of risks and personally I can't wait until my little darlings have flown the nest so that DH and I can travel the world in a camper van.

Do the authorities have a genuine choice about that rescue mission, though? I mean can you imagine the fuss if someone said "actually, you know what, we're in a global depression and the navy has a lot better things to do like trying to secure trade routes from pirates so we're going to leave these two idiots to their own devices."

I think it was a deeply stupid thing to do.

Deeply stupid.

Though, to be fair, they did think the weather had changed, And violent, lawless, anarchic pirates hate getting rained on.

Was listening to a Naval officer this evening on the radio and he was saying that while they would have a good look around (my translation) they weren't sure where the boat was taken.

I take this as code as, 'we have the (naval equivalent of SAS) on the case...'

That'll be the SBS. Rock hard.

rather unfair thing to say about the Navy there. The Indian Ocean is a farking big place and that sailboat seems no more than 40 ft. Somali pirates are not the only hazard out there I am sure. The straits between Java and Singapore is also infamous for pirates and if you want to sail to HK it is a near necessary evil.

This story makes me wonder though. It hinges on the fact that they blogged (?) about piracy then went missing. I am sure everyone sailing in that area mentions the risk of piracy in any correspondence they may make.

I lost 2 friends to piracy in the Caribbean a few years ago. I wouldn't avoid sailing the Caribbean because of this tragedy.

oh, the naval equivalent of the SAS is the Marines, no?

don't know cloud just going on the programme i saw! the navy seemed to think they could do alot more that they were allowed.

That was my first impression. However, on the news just now they said that they sailed quite some way off the Somalian coast, making a big detour to do so.

OMDB is correct. If you want to see money wasted, come and have a look at the UN in Geneva.

I was once confronted by Pirates in the Gambia

Shame their boat wan't one of these

Is there any update on their whereabouts? Heard something on the 6 o'clock news but then dh turned over to watch Eggheads so never found out.

It's still a pretty dreadful thing to happen to them no matter how foolhardy you may think they have been.

wheel out more of the story mp

Was the unfair comment directed at me? I have nothing but respect for the Navy.