Sailor couple held by pirates aim to finish voyage
June 11th, 2012 - 12:09 am ICT by IANSLondon, June 10 (IANS) A British couple held hostage by Somali pirates for more than a year are planning to finish their round-the-world sailing trip.
Rachel and Paul Chandler said they had the support of family and friends who raised half a million pounds of ransom money for them, the Daily Mail reported Sunday.
They were kidnapped in the Indian Ocean in October 2009 and held separately for more than a year. The couple spent 388 days in captivity after armed raiders boarded their 38 feet yacht as they sailed from the Seychelles to Tanzania.
The retired pair, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, were released in November 2010 after a ransom was paid. Paul Chandler said those around them had been “wonderful”.
“They want us to get our lives back, and life for us at the moment is travelling and sailing,” he told BBC Radio Five Live.
“I think they are relaxed about it, I don’t think they would be very positive if we were to be captured again, but we had bad luck, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the chances of it happening again are incredibly small.”
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- Rachel and Paul Chandler set sail again - Sep 11, 2012
- Ill Brit hostages refusing to eat or drink, say Somali pirates - Nov 16, 2009
- British couple freed by Somali pirates after year in captivity to "return to the UK very soon" - Nov 15, 2010
- Freed by Somalian pirates, UK couple to return home today - Nov 15, 2010
- Somali pirates free Brit couple after 388 days - Nov 14, 2010
- British couple with Somali pirates fears death 'in days' - Jan 22, 2010
- Pirates hijack boat with four Americans on board - Feb 19, 2011
- Relieved Chandlers relive horrendous Somalia captivity - Nov 28, 2010
- Back from captivity, Punjab sailors dream of next voyage - Apr 28, 2011
- Somali pirates seize Thai vessel - Oct 29, 2009
- Gurkhas, sonic arms, razor wire protecting cruise passengers from Somali pirates - Apr 18, 2011
- Indian Navy warship deployed near Somali coast to free sailors - Apr 19, 2011
- Somali pirates demand $7 mn ransom for British couple - Oct 31, 2009
- India for strong measures to combat pirates - Apr 20, 2011
Tags: bad luck, bbc, british couple, captivity, daily mail, family and friends, half a million, hostage, indian ocean, paul chandler, radio five, raiders, ransom money, sailing trip, seychelles, somali pirates, tunbridge wells, world sailing, wrong place at the wrong time, yacht