British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates freed after ransom payment

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

A British couple kidnapped from their yacht by Somali pirates more than a year ago have been freed after a ransom was paid.

Paul and Rachel Chandler, 61 and 56, from Tunbridge Wells, were handed over by the pirates to officials in Adado, central Somalia, early this morning.

"The Chandlers are with me now. They are free and safe," Mohamed Aden Tiicey, a senior official in Adado, told Reuters. He confirmed that a ransom had been handed over to the pirates.
...
The couple were spending their retirement sailing the world on their 38ft yacht Lynn Rival when they were captured on October 23 last year, soon after departing the Seychelles for Tanzania. They were forced to sail to Somalia, where they were taken onto land.

The pirates demanded a £4m ransom – the kind of sum they would receive from oil companies after capturing supertankers – which was far beyond the means of Chandlers. The British government has a policy of not paying ransoms and was unable to assist.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/14/paul-rachel-chandler-released-somali-pirates

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Al Jazeera says the ransom is rumoured to have been about $300,000, which may be on top of earlier payments which may total up to $1 million.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/11/201011147544682396.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. Daft in the head those two

Sailing in those waters was just asking for trouble.

[24601]

2. And nobody needs a yacht or private plane anyway. They

should be taxed back to a maximum wealth and the rest spread around to those of us in true need. For example I have never had a yacht, so it's MY turn. The fact that I never could afford one is irrelevant since I'm inherently entitled to one - at least as much as they are.

[Honeycombe8]

4. If you have one t-shirt, then you don't NEED a second one. Does that make

you wasteful?

Your post makes you sound jealous, envious of others who can afford more than you. If you have an old beat-up jalopy, are you the kind of person who is envious of your neighbor who just bought a new VW Bug?

You miss the point, which is that you CAN have a new VW Bug, a yacht, or anything your heart desires...if that's what your heart desires. All you have to do is be willing to pay the price, not just in money.

A lot of people get wealthy by being entrepreneurs, after opening businesses that others want or need, and in an area where the products or services are wanted or needed. A lot of other people get wealthy by getting an advanced education in an area, learning to do something that society needs or wants, and that not a lot of people can do (like surgeon).

They either get well educated, work long days (often 7 days a week), experience a lot of stress, make sure they excel in what they do, are often Type A personalities.

So you didn't want to do all that. Fair enough. Neither did I. But I don't begrudge those who did do all that, and buy a yacht with their expendable income (sometimes it's not expendable income...they are mortgaged to the hilt). I am glad that people became surgeons, computer programmers, entrepreneurs, car dealers, etc. We need those things. They earn their money. People are paid well for doing things that are needed and not a lot of other people can do, or for taking risks.

Also, don't forget that buying yachts and new cars helps our economy. There are scores of small businesses that rely on these things, and make our economy run.

So don't be envious. Be proud of your neighbor for going that extra mile or planning well or working hard. Otherwise, there is always someone less fortunate than you, who is jealous of YOU for what YOU have (which they think THEY should have...for free...for doing nothing).

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I think the post you were replying to was sarcastic

I hope so, anyway. They weren't particularly rich. He was a quantity surveyor (in charge of budgets on building projects, if the term isn't used in the States), she was a civil service economist. They had no children, so they had enough money to retire early, sell their house, and buy a boat instead. Yeah, they're middle class, but it's not as they were rolling in money.

[chidy]

7. to a somali

who likely grew up in terrific poverty, constant social unrest, and unrelenting violence between internal and external groups, any couple sailing the world in a big boat they own filled with food would seem fabulously wealthy. sort of like how to americans, people with 50M in the bank seem fabulously wealthy. most americans haven't met too many of those and whey they do they tend to be impressed. they may not know that an even more wealthy group of people exist to whom 50M is chump change. same deal here: these somalis saw something that is a universe beyond their reach and assumed it could be ransomed. and i note: it appears they weren't wrong. 300K or 1M, goes a hell of a long way where these kids are at.

sad thing is, most of the take will be spent on weapons.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Some of the ransom came from Somalians living in the UK

and from a website that requested donations. The family couldn't raise it on its own. Ironically, the thing of most value that the couple had - the yacht - was abandoned by the pirates. And whether that was "a universe beyond their reach" is doubtful - the Somalis had a 'mothership' capable of taking 3 skiffs about 400 miles offshore to capture the yacht, so it's not quite so different from having a yacht.

[jberryhill]

11. Checked real estate prices in Nairobi lately?

That's where the money goes.

These pirate operations are funding fabulous lifestyles of Somali "businessmen" who have moved to Kenya. It's very well known in Nairobi where the money is going.

http://m.npr.org/story/126510891
A Nairobi real estate broker who identifies himself as Willy says he helps pirates buy property. He got his start forging documents for illegal Somali immigrants years ago. "I have friends, most are agents whom I operate with, they tell me this is piracy money, take advantage of the situation when the money's here, you can make some profit out of it," Willy says.

[24601]

6. That's very different - I HAVE two shirts. n/t

:fistbump:

[jberryhill]

10. Work your whole life, like they did, sell your house and buy a yacht

Does the fact that they are 61 provide you with any sort of clue here?

They had pretty normal jobs their whole lives. Some people do that sort of thing, and aren't wealthy by any means.

[Honeycombe8]

3. I'm glad they ended up being returned alive. A happy ending, I guess.

Except that paying a ransom only encourages more kidnappings. Still, I'm glad they are alive and hopefully healthy and weren't mistreated.

[Turbineguy]

8. We could drop

a MOAB on the Pirates but we'd kill too many Bankers.

[dipsydoodle]

12. Chandlers told Danyl Johnson didn’t win X Factor

Freed British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler have had the news broken to them that Danyl Johnson did not win the X Factor while they were being held hostage by Somali pirates.

After a year in which they had no access to global news sources, the Chandlers had remained confident that Danyl Johnson would win the competition after performing the best audition they had seen.

A spokesperson for the Chandlers told reporters, “They’re shocked, as you can imagine. They were big Danyl fans, and by the time they were kidnapped he was a big favourite at the bookies.”

“This is the tragic side of kidnapping that people rarely see. Paul and Rachel would sit there talking about what sort of album Danyl would release, and whether he would be dating a page three model by now.”

http://newsthump.com/2010/11/15/chandlers-told-danyl-johnson-didnt-win-x-factor/