Today the news has been released that another yacht has been captured by pirates, it was taken close to the route from Salalah to the Gulf of Aden.

This was not one of our rally yachts, however the yacht ‘ING’ had been moored next to our yachts whilst we were in Sri Lanka and we shared the bus to the supermarket one day.

They were a nice Danish family with three children, they also had two additional crew on board when they were captured. The Danish Authorities have decided not to intervene after the outcome with Quest and so the yacht is on it’s way to Somalia.

The usual practise is for the hostages to be transferred to land for several months, until ransom negotiations commence.

The Captain from MARLO Bahrain told us of the capture when he addressed us all on Sunday and so it played a big part in the decision process for the remaining yachts still keen to sail.

I have, temporarily, removed our previous blog until evacuation details are finalised at this end.

Our advice to yachts contemplating any part of the passage from the Maldives or India into the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea or through the Gulf of Aden towards the Red Sea is:

 DON’T GO !