Somali Pirates Threaten Death to Danish Hostages

Earlier this week, MarEx reported a pirate hijack of a Danish yacht and the capture of the vacationing Johansen family of 5, and their 2 crewmembers. Since this report, a foreign ministry statement has gone on record to say that all the hostages are alive in Somalia and doing well under the circumstances at hand.



There are mixed stories of whether the hostages were transferred to a larger vessel or on land.



Abdullahi Mohamed, a man connected to the pirate organization who has been a previously reliable informant, said that any attack or attempted rescue would result in certain death for the Danish captives. He cited the deaths of the last failed rescue mission, where 4 Americans were slaughtered who were also seized vacationing on their yacht.



It is unclear the course of action that will be taken to ensure the safety and rescue of the family and their crew. Danish foreign ministry official Lene Espersen spoke that although these threats are grim, it is typical of the game the pirates play. The Danish government has assured that they are doing everything in their power to help alleviate this tough situation.



In shocking new developments, it has been discovered from the family’s own travel blog that the Johansen family had heard of the tragedy which occurred to the American yachters, but still continued to journey through some of the most dangerous seas in the world off the coast of Somalia as a lone vessel. Even many large commercial ships won’t take to these waters alone without the safety of a convoy where piracy threat is so high. The family was en route to travel through the Gulf of Aden and slotted to return home to Denmark by August.