Somalia: Update on South African Pirate Seized Yacht

(NAIROBI, Kenya) - It is now confirmed that a yacht seized off an island in Somalian waters is the one-mast sailing yacht SY Choizil, named after the Ile de Choizil an island near still French Mayotte, with a South African skipper by the first name of Peter, who escaped, as well Bruno Pelizzari with his partner Deborah, whose last name also was not available, who are still held hostage.

ECOTERRA Intl. says it was first indicated that a sailing yacht with three persons had possibly been abducted yesterday via Seychelles through the Seafarer's networks.

Following reports however stated that there was a man of Italian origin on board in addition to the South-African skipper and a woman and possibly even a young boy, which confused the picture.

In addition there were reports by news-wire reports of a man being shot and a boy and a woman taken hostage. Pelizzari’s family members and government authorities say Pelizzari, a South African of Italian descent, has been described as a small man, so it could have been assumed that a child or teenager was kidnapped.

Barry Turner, commodore at the Bluff Yacht Club, where the couple were members, said the two had set off for Madagascar a year ago, but were at the moment assisting another yachtsman in bringing a vessel back to Richard’s Bay in South Africa.

Both Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah, were on board when the yacht headed back to Richards Bay from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on 21 October and together with the skipper - a man named so far only as Peter. The trio are said to have then encountered the pirates on 01 November and the yacht was commandeered to Somalia. So far even the involvement of a second yacht can not be ruled out, said an observer from ECOTERRA Intl.

Observers sighted a yacht on 04 November near the Bajuni Island of Koyaama at the Southern coast of Somalia. The search for a missing yacht was launched in order to identify the boat and the sailors, but neither the Seychelles nor the network of yachts-people reported any missing yacht.

The yacht had then again been located by the EU NAVFOR warship FS Floreal on 6 November when it was discovered to be sailing suspiciously close to shore.

Despite numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact the yacht, including a pass by the ship’s helicopter, no answer was received and the French warship launched her boarding team to investigate further, a EU Navfor statement revealed.

However, in a tragic event and after a chase by naval forces escalating the situation and the yacht running aground, SY Choizil's skipper apparently jumped over board during a close naval swoop, when shots were fired and a naval helicopter and a commando team in a speedboat were engaged.

Peter was later picked up by the navy and is safe. He is confirmed to be a South-African by nationality; his next of kin have been informed and after he already arrived at the Kenyan harbour of Mombasa on board a Dutch warship he was handed over to South African officials and brought to Kenya's capital Nairobi on Monday.

South Africa's High Commissioner to Kenya, Ndumiso Ntshinga, said he had been in contact with the rescued yachtsman on Monday and confirmed the two captives, a man and a woman, were both South African citizens.

Unfortunately, the woman Deborah and the man Peter are reportedly at present still held hostage south of Baraawa (Brawa). No ransom demands have been made.

"We only can hope that the different reports speaking of the killing of one man, whereby at present nobody can say if that had been caused by the naval interaction or by the pirates, will turn out to be not correct at all," said a spokesman from ECOTERRA Intl., adding: "and we hope and urge the local elders to ensure that the innocent woman and man will be set free immediately."

Since the Al-Shabaab administration, who governs the vast areas in Southern Somalia, where the ancient coastal town of Baraawe (Brawa) is located, had earlier openly condemned any act of piracy, it is hoped that a safe and unconditional release of the hostages can be achieved.

Questions are still open concerning a possible fourth person on board or a second yacht.

Pirates, several residents and al-Shabaab members, who also control Baraawe, had told Reuters on Sunday that a hostage had been shot dead, but that maybe referred to the skipper Peter, who had disappeared from their view, because he jumped overboard in the naval swoop.

Per Klingvall, spokesman for EU Navfor, however, said the anti-piracy task force had no information about anyone being killed, and that the rescued yachtsman had not been shot.

While the South African International Relations and Cooperation Department had confirmed that no South African man was killed in the incident, the Spokesman for the department, Saul Molobi, would only say the man killed was not South African.

In the case of the sea-jacked, allegedly drug-smuggling yacht SY Serenity, which was even then used in a string af attacks on first Thai fishing vessels and then the U.S. American container vessel Maersk Alabama, the existence of a fourth man on board and his identity were withheld by the authorities for still unknown reasons. He presence was only then officially acknowledged after the Seychelles staged a release operation with the exchange of prisoners and a ransom payment, which in itself hit several snags, because it was executed in a totally unprofessional way - according to security sources.

With matching reports from Somalia, saying the skipper of the South-African sailing yacht jumped over board and was picked up by naval forces, while 2 people were confirmed by EU Navfor as abducted, it however could still be possible that another person was on board earlier and was killed in the ensuing havoc.

“The whereabouts of the other crew members is currently unknown, despite a comprehensive search by an EU Navfor helicopter,” the EU Navfor said.

Pelizzari’s family said on Monday that the two were still captive in Somalia and International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane confirmed that two South Africans were abducted.

The family, according to a South African news agency, is frustrated at not being able to get detailed information on Pelizzari’s welfare, and is deeply concerned for his safety. Vera Pelizzari, Bruno’s sister, was worried about information being stifled and her brother’s plight then not being properly attended to and added: “We simply do not have the money to pay for ransom.”

Karl Otto of the Maritime Rescue Co-ordinating Centre in Cape Town said Monday to IOL that the Department of International Relations and Co-operation was handling the hostage situation.

“They’ve got a couple of people who may be negotiating. We’ve been told to pass on any information to them,” Otto said.

Sources also say that Bruno and Deborah “walked” with the pirates from the ship, so at that stage they appeared to have been unharmed.

Andrew Mwangura, co-ordinator of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said he assumed the yacht had been towed to Mombasa.

In a sad and tragic precedent at the beginning of April 2009, the skipper of French yacht SY Tanit, Cpt. Florent Lemacon, was admittedly but apparently accidentally killed by French troopers in an ill-advised and blotched rescue attempt off the peninsula of Hafun on the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia.

His wife and 3-year old son survived. The investigations and court procedures on this case have not been concluded, since the actions of the French naval forces have been shrouded in secrecy.

Thereafter in October 2008, the yacht SY Lynn Rival was abducted in the Indian Ocean. This is the boat from which the British sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler were captured on their trip from the Seychelles to Tanzania. Though the elderly couple survived also their transfer to first another ship, whereby the British Royal navy was watching but had to hold back from any action, and then to land, the two are now held since over a year hostage, while the case has been neglected and is surrounded by deals gone sour.

While most serious media seem to have been muzzled on this case, a recent article in the British gutter-press, which also gave a false record of the events, demonstrated only once more the neglect which characterizes the fate of these British citizens since they were taken hostage by an unscrupulous gang.