American Couple Captured By Somali Pirates
The New York Times reports:
KAMPALA, Uganda — An American couple sailing across the Indian Ocean in a small yacht was captured by Somali pirates on Friday, maritime officials in East Africa said, and the pirates appeared to be taking the Americans back to the Somali shore.
The yacht’s owners, Jean and Scott Adam, have been cruising around the world for more than six years, from New Zealand to Tahiti to the Galapagos to Hawaii, China and India. In one of their last posts on their website, they said they were leaving Mumbai for Oman, and then sailing onwards to Djibouti, passing through pirate-infested waters where there have been an increasing number of hijackings in recent months.
“Djibouti is a big refueling stop,” wrote Mrs. Adam, a retired dentist. “I have NO idea what will happen in these ports, but perhaps we’ll do some local touring.”
On Friday, while they were about 275 miles from the coast of Oman, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the pirates struck, according to Andrew Mwangura, the maritime editor of Somalia Report, an online news source that closely tracks piracy attacks.
“They put out an SOS,” he said. “The timing was bad. The pirates just intercepted them.”
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