Somali pirates free Danish family

A DANISH yachting family held hostage by Somali pirates for more than six months have been released and are returning home after enduring “the most horrible ordeal one can imagine”, government officials said.

Jan Quist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie and their three children, aged between 12 and 16, were captured along with two Danish crew members on 24 February, when their 43ft yacht was seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean.

All seven “were released on Tuesday and are doing well under the circumstances. They are in a plane on their way to Denmark”, foreign ministry spokeswoman Charlotte Slente said yesterday.

A pirate, who identified himself as Hussein, spoke by telephone yesterday from the coastal village of Ras Bina in Somalia’s Puntland region about the release of the Danes: “We received a $3 million [£1.86m] ransom [on Tuesday] afternoon.”

The Johansens, from Kalundborg, 75 miles west of Copenhagen, were on a round-the-world trip when they approached the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa. Their travel blog showed they were aware of the dangers, but did not expect to get into trouble, and were comforted by the sight of anti-piracy forces patrolling the vast area.

News of their release was met with relief in their home town.

“The family very likely is aware that what they did was not so fortunate. They certainly feel pretty bad about it now,” said Ole Meridin Petersen, chairman of the Kalundborg yacht club, which Mr Johansen belonged to.

Hostages are held in hot, austere conditions in Somalia – typically for many months – before a ransom is agreed on and paid, and the hijacked ships and crew are released. Last year, British sailing couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were released after 388 days in captivity.

Reports indicated that a ransom in the region of $1m was paid for their release.

Danish foreign minister Lene Espersen said hs country did not pay ransom “as a matter of principle”. The family had been “advised by professional negotiators”, she said.

Prime minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said negotiations carried on for “a long period” before the hostages were freed.

“I am really happy on behalf of the family, which has been through the most horrible ordeal one can imagine,” he said.

The pirates in the sea lanes linking Europe to Asia and Africa have made about £50m in ransoms since September last year, experts say. Days before the attack on the Johansens, who were sailing from the Maldives to the Red Sea, pirates shot dead four US sailors in the same area in a hostage stand-off.

Andrew Mwangura, a regional maritime expert, said a flurry of deals and the end of the monsoon rains meant it was likely the pirates would resume their hijacking attacks after a lull for the bad weather.