Tuesday - September 13, 2011

Murder On The High Seas

A Mayday broadcast from a French catamaran last Thursday led to a rescue mission that was too late to save one of the boat’s owners.

Christian Colombo (55), a former member of the French navy, and his wife Evelyne had been sailing the Tribal Kat through the notorious Gulf of Aden - against all advice - en route via the Indian Ocean to Thailand when they were attacked.

A German warship responding to the Mayday found the empty catamaran off the coast of Yemen. Signs of a bloody struggle on board initiated an air and sea search by the EU’s anti-piracy task force in the area.

On Saturday the Spanish naval ship Galicia caught up with a suspect vessel. About to open fire, the Spaniards realised hostage Evelyne Colombo was among those on board the skiff. She was rescued and seven pirates were arrested.

Her husband is thought to have been killed when the Tribal Kat was taken. Others may have been on board the catamaran as well, as the couple were known to take on friends as ad hoc crew members. However, until Mme Colombo is able to give a full account of events, the fate of any others is unknown.

EUNAVFOR assets stopped and boarded a skiff thought to have been involved in an incident with the French Sailing Yacht (SY) TRIBAL KAT. One member of the crew from the yacht was found safe.

The SY TRIBAL KAT was located on 8 September, by the EU NAVFOR warship FGS BAYERN, who responded to a distress call from the yacht and located off the coast of Yemen. At that time and following an inspection of the yacht, the crew could not be found.  Spanish warship SPS GALICIA, with support from EU NAVFOR warship FS SURCOUF, located and trailed the suspected pirate skiff.

According to the Spanish Defense Ministry, the GALICIA detected a boat suspected of piracy-related activities while on a surveillance mission off the Somali coast.  After an initial investigation confirmed the suspicion, the pirates refused to stop and revealed to the GALICIA that they were holding a hostage on board.

The GALICIA proceeded to intercept the pirate vessel with their embarked helicopter and naval warfare team, who fired on the boat’s engine, rendering it inoperable.

Following an exchange of gunfire, the pirate skiff was sunk and members of the Spanish Navy successfully rescued the hostage. Upon getting her to safety, they proceeded to the arrest the 7 pirates.

“One of the crew members was released safely and all of the suspect criminals were detained. The whereabouts of the remaining crew is unknown,” EU NAVFOR said. “During the operation the hostage was not wounded or injured and all the suspect criminals were detained unharmed.”

“EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta assets have today, 10 September, stopped and boarded a skiff thought to have been involved in an incident with the French Sailing Yacht (SY) TRIBAL KAT. One member of the crew from the yacht was found safe.

The sailboat Tribal Kat is currently being towed in for further analysis.  At this time, it is believed that there were four crew members taken captive, and their whereabouts are currently unknown.

Oh sure, a skiff full of Somali pirates just happened to be motoring by when they saw the woman in the water, and - such good Samaritans that they are - they plucked her from the water. After that they had no choice but to shoot at the Spanish Navy when they came calling, because she was cooking them up a nice dish of wat and a batch of injera bread, and they were hungry.  Yeah right.

Christian and Evelyne Colombo’s family was informed overnight that the 55-year-old was killed during the attack and his body thrown overboard before their catamaran was found abandoned on Thursday, the same source said. 
...
Christian Colombo was a former French navy crewman and the couple were experienced sailors who wanted to see the world and were passing through the Gulf of Aden en route for the Indian Ocean and eventually Thailand. 

Posted by Drew458     on 09/13/2011 at 12:01 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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