The Associated Press
via FoxNews.com
2/18/2011
MOGADISHU, Somalia – An American couple that has sailed the world with a yacht full of Bibles was hijacked by Somali pirates, and the U.S. said Saturday it is assessing possible options.
Pirates say the yacht will make landfall in Somalia on Sunday, which would reduce the chances of a fast rescue dramatically. A British sailing couple hijacked by pirates was held hostage in a stiflingly hot Somali region for more than a year.
Pirates hijacked the yacht Quest on Friday, two days after a Somali pirate was sentenced to 33 years in prison by a New York court for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. That case ended in a spectacular rescue when Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates holding the ship’s captain, Richard Phillips.
The Quest is the home of Jean and Scott Adam, a couple from California who has been sailing around the world since December 2004, according to a website the Adams keep. Two other Americans were also believed to be on board.
The pirates are unlikely to hurt the four Americans because they won’t win any ransom money if they do, said Graeme Gibbon-Brooks, the head of Dryad Maritime Intelligence. He argued that the pirates would be wise to abandon the yacht because the hijacking threatens their business model, which relies on ransoms from large shipping and insurance companies…
Read the rest at FoxNews.com
Somali pirates have “business models”…?
TigerHawk writes, …Dear President Obama: Wine may be mulled, but the response to piracy is well-settled. Even the French know what must be done….
