Although the waters around the Gulf of Aden and the bottom of the Red Sea have long been known for occasional attacks of shipping and cruisers, there have been very few incident in the last five years as the Somalie pirate have moved on to other venture as the country is embroiled in civil war. But, one Australian family, almost had a pirate attack and they count themselves very lucky to come away unscathed. Reporter Adam McCleery tells their tale in Australia’s Daily Mail.
“An Australian family sailing around the globe were stalked for four hours by pirates before Japanese and Pakistani warships sailed in to save the day. Lachin Turner, wife Louise and their two young children Siara, 11, and Kai, 4, were sailing off the coast of Yemen during their dream sailing trip when they spotted a pirate skiff moving toward their position. Ms Turner said that the family were ‘sitting ducks’ as the pirate skiff moved in closer and started to scout their potential prey.
“It wasn’t long before more pirate skiffs arrived and started to pass close by the families yacht, crossing the bow and seemingly corralling them away from any nearby vessels. Ms Turner and her husband were scrambling to figure out a way away from the pirates and knew their only option at that point was to radio for help, their radio message was short but captured the terror of the situation, ‘imminent pirate attack’.”
