EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta warships stopped and boarded a skiff thought to have been involved in an incident with the French Sailing Yacht Tribal Kat. One member of the crew from the yacht was found safe.
The SY Tribal Kat was located on 8 September, by the German firgate Bayern, which responded to a distress call from the yacht and located off the coast of Yemen, reports EUNAVFOR.eu.
At that time, and following an inspection of the yacht, the crew could not be found. Today, September 10, Spanish warship Galicia, with support from the French frigate, Surcouf, located and trailed the skiff. After the skiff ignored an order to stop, the commander of the Galicia ordered his men to open fire, and a naval warfare team fired on the boat's engine to disable it, forcing the skiff to come to a stop.
One of female crew member from SY Tribal Kat was released safely and all of the suspect criminals were apprehended. The whereabouts of the remaining crew member is unknown.
The yacht is owned by Christian Colombo and his wife Eveylene who sold everything and left two years ago from Toulon. They ran a blog with details of their adventure. A former sailor, Colombo designed the 17 meter catamaran himself. They left France with his wife and daughter Aurelie, and friends Andrew and Jean-Yves Lorenzini as crew. Sadly, it is feared that Christian Colombo may be deceased, say Somalia Report.
Having safely recovered all other persons aboard the skiff by a boarding team from SPS Galicia, the skiff was subsequently sunk. All are now on board the SPS Galicia while investigations continue to determine the facts of the incidents.
During the operation the hostage was not wounded or injured; all the suspect criminals were detained, unharmed. Spain's defence ministry said seven pirates had been detained.
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