Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
News
Original poster

I have had enough and need to do something. Why is no one getting them out?

74 replies

FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 · 31/01/2010 17:33

IIRC the ransom is a million quid. Now if I had the millions that various celebrities have I would have paid the ransom and got them out. Bollocks to not giving in.

OP posts:
GypsyMoth · 01/02/2010 13:49

scary.....yes he was let in. he's not a resident doc or anything,and the ill health news came from him. why was he let in? maybe some deal is about to be struck and it was necessary to asertain if they were still alive? maybe....hopefully

SleepingLion · 01/02/2010 14:00

I think the doctor was let in to put pressure on the British govt. - by confirming how frail the couple are, it generates more public sympathy for them and thus puts the pressure of public opinion on the govt. to pay the ransom - so the pirates have manipulated this quite carefully.

GypsyMoth · 01/02/2010 14:09

so the pirates are getting fed up with waiting? its been a while,they must be sensing that uk wont be paying up!

OnlyWantsOne · 01/02/2010 14:12

... I think the french do the right thing in these situations.

They dont pander to it at all. Last kidnapping of French, the special forces were mobalised and all the pirates were killed

also...(as was one of the hostages)

bronze · 01/02/2010 14:53

would you want to be that doctor?

smee · 01/02/2010 15:10

I read a while back that so far nobody has been killed by Somali pirates apart from in the crossfire of rescue attempts. So maybe, just maybe the long game is the most sensible. That Doctor is apparently very pivotal to it all - hugely respected unusually by both sides.

trixymalixy · 01/02/2010 15:18

I feel dreadfully sorry for them and their family, but paying the ransom is such a bad idea.

The reason they are in this situation in the first place is because of private companies paying ransoms. The pirates then see it as an easy way of getting cash and a whole industry has been built around it.

scaryteacher · 01/02/2010 15:36

It's international organised crime - follow the money and see where it goes back to. It won't be Somalia.

poshtottie · 01/02/2010 16:17

It was an RFA ship not a warship which is manned by civilians.

noddyholder · 01/02/2010 18:35

It seems obscene that 100k is not forthcoming but JTs affair woman is being offered 150 k for her 'story'

Prinnie · 01/02/2010 18:42

The ransom shouldn't be paid, but we should just send in the SAS. Whatever her faults Thatcher wouldn't have stood for this insult to the British people.

The SAS should storm in and kill anyone that gets in their way. That might then serve as a bit of a deterrant.

MrsGuyofGisbourne · 01/02/2010 18:45

Why should people struggling on the minimum age sgree to their hard earned taxes used to bail out a couple who were stupid enough to go on a sailing holiday to Somalia???
People don't seem to get that the government HAS NO money - what these people are asking for is handouts from hardworking people because they were stupid and reckless.
How about some of their whinging relatives selling their houses if they feel it is a deserving cause? Are any of them actually doing that? Not the general population who have a few more brain cells and more common sense than this couple whose sense of entitlement is sickening.

Bonsoir · 01/02/2010 18:48

MrsGuyofGisbourne - while I of course feel sorry for the Chandlers, I agree that they were exceedingly naïve/reckless in their choice of holiday. And I certainly don't think that anyone should be paying a ransome to Somali pirates.

May the Chandlers' case be publicised widely so that other foolhardy adventurous travellers reflect a little before setting sail.

scaryteacher · 01/02/2010 18:53

Noddy - it's 4 million, £100,000 they might raise on their own.

Mrs G - I don't think they went on a sailing holiday to Somalia, but were sailing in an area where the advice was not to go. I also think that you are being very harsh in saying that they have a sense of entitlement. I would not like to be held hostage by Somali pirates, knowing that my country does not pay ransoms.

I imagine quite a lot is going on behind the scenes to free them that we don't know about; I hope they can be freed by diplomatic means and not by sending in the SAS/SBS. I would think they are quite busy elsewhere....

Goblinchild · 01/02/2010 18:58

Those waters are marked in all the almanacs and charts as highly dangerous and to be avoided at all costs unless you are a battleship. Colombia had a similar 50 mile exclusion warning 30 years ago, it probably still has.
So they looked on the map, saw the danger and went ahead anyway. Their choice. The consequences are also theirs, so no ransom in my opinion, just the chance to exercise their free will.

noddyholder · 01/02/2010 18:59

It was 4million it is now 100k

ilovemydogandmrobama · 01/02/2010 19:02

Interesting though that the Foreign Office said, 'we counsel against paying hostage takers...'

bronze · 02/02/2010 13:19

thats code for we cant be seen to pay hostage takers but you know we cant tell you not to as relatives if you so choose

JiminyCricket · 02/02/2010 13:46

There wouldn't be a kidnap problem if countries and companies took the don't pay stance...I really hope they get out ok but i totally support the stance and actually I think we do need to consider the increased risk to future seafarers if a ransom is paid.

MrsGuyofGisbourne · 03/02/2010 19:17

Okay, so if it is now 100k, surely their relatives can raise this by selling/remortgaging their houses/cashing in pensions? Don't the couple themselves have a house in the UK to go back to - how much could they sell that for to pay back those relatives?
Why do so many people blithly go off into dangerous situations and then go bleating to the Britsh Goverment to get them out (vis drug smugglers who object to the conditions in foreign jails as reported today)

giveitago · 03/02/2010 20:44

Well my understanding is that they avoided the dangerous waters but because there are ships now monitoring the area the pirates had moved out of their usual stalking area.

Terribly sorry for them - I think in the case of somali pirates paying or not paying will make very little difference to their future pirating plans.

I gather the family are not wealthy and the couple do not own a home -their boat is their home.

Hope diplomacy can pay off - but personally don't have high hopes HOWEVER, the original threats have not yet been carried out - they are stalling so you never know.

ShinyAndNew · 03/02/2010 20:52

I feel for them and their families, but as others have said they sailed into those waters, knowing there was a risk of pirates. They only have themselves to blame.

I also agree that paying the ransom will just lead to further kidnappings and more piracy.

Having said that I believe (but may be wrong) that the pirates while in the wrong, are pirating because they can no longer fish, due to polution from the western world? So maybe we sould do something to help in that respect and thus reduce the 'need' for piracy.

Nonailsrules · 05/02/2010 09:54

Thats a great idea - if their families are so concered they should sell thier houses

ILIVEONBENEFITS · 11/02/2010 01:13

Why don't we just kidnap some of their pirate mates and then stage a prisoner exchange?

If the initial kidnap goes to plan and secures the release or exchange of this unfortunate couple then we could carry out some more and get creative as to our demands

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread