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Somali pirates hold British couple on cargo ship
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-30 13:52

Paul Chandler's sister, Jill Marshment, pleaded for the Chandlers' release and also said they weren't wealthy. Even with only two aboard, the couple described the Lynn Rival as cramped. It is powered mostly by sails and has a small outboard engine.

"They are resilient people. They won't be weeping," Marshment said. "Instead, they'll be thinking: 'What are we going to do? What are we going to say?'"

Paul Chandler has been identified in the British media as a retired construction site manager, while Rachel, 55, is described as an economist. The couple, married for 28 years, took early retirement about three years ago and have spent six-month spells at sea. They have sailed to the Greek islands, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Oman, Yemen, India, the Maldives and the Seychelles, chronicling their voyage on a Web log.

The Chandlers were well aware they have been sailing through pirate territory, according to their blog entries.

A March 2008 post reported that they "didn't see any pirates, just a few fisherman inshore and large ships passing further offshore." In February, they reported passing through a "high risk of piracy area," traveling in a convoy of five yachts for protection.

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They wrote in June that another couple had recently left for Tanzania after delaying their departure "because of the Somali pirate problem."

According to an Oct. 21 entry, the Chandlers planned to set sail the next day and be at sea for eight to 12 days, heading south toward Tanzania.

"We probably won't have satellite phone coverage until we're fairly close to the African coast, so we may be out of touch for some time," they wrote.

The last message on the blog was posted Oct. 23, the day the pirates came, and cryptically read: "Please ring Sarah" - a possible reference to Rachel's sister, who lives in the London area.

Piracy expert Nick Davies of the Merchant Maritime Warfare Center said the couple should have known better.

"They sailed into the lion's den and they did it knowingly and they should be sternly told they have created an international scenario that was entirely avoidable," Davies said.

Somalia has not had a functioning government for 18 years. The multimillion-dollar ransoms the pirates regularly collect are a strong lure for young gunmen in a country where nearly half the population is dependent on aid.

The high-seas hijackings have persisted despite an international armada of warships deployed by the United States, the European Union, NATO, Japan, South Korea and China to patrol the region.

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