The Pirates of Ponant

On April 4, the Ponant, a modern three masted 290' luxury sailing ship, was seized by Somalian pirates in the Gulf of Aden while going from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean. When it was captured the ship carried no passengers,but all 30 crew members were taken hostage. Ransom was paid and the crew members were released on April 12. Immediately afterwards French commandos captured six pirates. They also recovered some of the ransom money. The pirates have been taken to France and are now awaiting trial.  As charges against the 6 pirates of the Ponant were being filed in France another group of Somali pirates seized the 250' Spanish tuna trawler Playa de Bakio.  The Spanish government reportedly paid $1.2 million in ransom for release of the boat and its crew of 26.   The British Government has responded to events by worrying about the human rights of pirates. John S. Burnett, author of “Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas,” offers his views on the British government's sensitivity in the NY Times:  "The British attitude has come a long way since the days when pirates were chained to pilings at Wapping and left there until the tidal water of the Thames ebbed and flowed over the bodies three times. So much for Britannia ruling the waves." Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 233 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Comment smaller | bigger Write the displayed characters Add Comment

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 April 2008 )

 

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