Saturda, November 14, 2009
Source: AsiaOne News
The ministry insisted that the ship, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary replenishment tanker Wave Knight, could not have acted without endangering the lives of Paul Chandler, 59, and his wife, Rachel, 55.
The couple were sailing near the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean on their yacht the Lynn Rival when pirates boarded as they slept on October 23.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Every effort was made by the Royal Navy and the international maritime fleet to locate the Lynn Rival.
"We did everything we could possibly do without further endangering the lives of Paul and Rachel Chandler.
"We do not comment on operational detail but RFA Wave Knight did very well under the circumstances."
In a phone call on October 29, the couple said they were initially moved from their yacht to a Singapore-flagged container ship, which was under the pirates' control.
One of the pirates, Abdi Yare, told AFP on October 31 that the couple had then been moved to a location near the pirate lair of Harardhere on the central coast of Somalia.
The pirates have demanded a ransom of seven million US dollars but the British government has insisted it will not make any payment. --AFP