On Friday, a yacht out in the middle of the Indian Ocean sent out an SOS after being hijacked by infamous Somali pirates. The crew of the yacht, The Quest, consisted of two couples: the owners of the Yacht, the Adams from Orange County, and a Seattle couple, Phyllis Macay and Robert Riggle.
According to reports, a Somali pirate named Bile Hussein said the yacht, which was captured off the coast of Oman by Northern Somali pirates, would arrive in Somalia “if no problem happens on their way.”
On Feb. 15, The Quest left the rally of yachts they were traveling with when they were headed to the Greek Islands. Blue Water Rally, which organized the rally, released a statement on their website that The Quest left to take an independent route.
The Seattle couple had traveled across the Indian Ocean before and the United States Navy had asked the travelers to stay clear of danger by only using shipping lanes.
Jean Adam, a retired dentist kept a travel blog and last wrote, “Djibouti is a big refueling stop. I have NO idea what will happen in these ports, but perhaps we’ll do some local touring.” In an older entry she wrote,”since this trip is a reflection of our life and because life on a moving boat is unpredictable, we expect this trip to hold some unexpected surprises!”
U.S. military officials told CNN that they are prepared to rescue the Americans. They did not specifically indicate what their next step would be in the rescue mission but according to CNN, the last time an American couple was taken hostage the Navy sent out a myriad of ships and three Somali pirates were shot dead. The surviving pirate was then taken hostage and taken to New York where he was sentenced to 33 years in prison.
Currently more than 800 people are captives of Somali pirates.