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British Couple Hijacked by Somali Pirates
Tuesday October 27th, 2009

Somali pirates have seized a British couple and their yacht in the Indian Ocean in the middle of their round-the-world voyage.

Paul and Rachel Chandler, aged 58 and 55, were heading for Tanzania from the Seychelles in their 38-foot yacht, the Lynn Rival, when they sent a distress signal on Friday. They have not been heard from since.

The route would have taken the Chandlers near Somali waters which are notorious for pirate attacks on ships and smaller boats.

“The British couple are in our hands now. We captured them as they were touring in the Indian Ocean,” a pirate called Hassan told Reuters. He said the two captives were healthy and ransom demands would follow.

The last message on their extensive travel blog was posted on Friday morning and reads simply: “Please ring Sarah.”

Two days earlier the couple, from Tonbridge in Kent, wrote that they were saying farewell to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean - and were bound for Tanzania more than 500 miles away.

“We’ll be at sea for 8 to 12 days, maybe 14 as we are now getting into the period of transition between the south monsoon and north monsoon, so the trade winds will be less reliable and we may get more light winds,” they said.

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