Lynn Rival. The latest

A British couple kidnapped by pirates more than six months ago have appealed to the new government for help.

Paul and Rachel Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were seized by Somali pirates in October while sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.

In an interview with a Somali journalist filmed last weekend for ITV and Channel 4 News, Mr Chandler called on the new coalition Government to make a statement on whether or not it will assist the couple.

He said: "I would like to say 'congratulations' to David Cameron first. As the new Prime Minister we desperately need him to make a definitive public statement of the Government's attitude to us.

"As I said, we are two British citizens, we have been kidnapped in the Seychelles (Editors Note: Sorry, but the RFA Wave Knight was not operating in that area. Therefore they were not in the Seychelles) which was a perfectly safe place to be.

"If the Government is not prepared to help then they must say so because the gangsters' expectations and hopes have been raised by the thought of a new Government. There might be a different approach.

"If the Government can help, and I think they should, then we would welcome that and would they please do so.

"But either way they must make a statement so that we know where we stand."

The government can't help. It would destroy years of work done in denying terrorists a reward for their acts.

The Lynn Rival update

I wrote some while ago about my thoughts on how the RFA Wave Knight failed to prevent the capture of the Chandlers. It would seem that the pirates have lowered their sights and are now demanding a lesser ransom. Down from $7 million to $2 million. There are those now saying the ransom should be paid . Read it here.

No, No, No. That would just encourage anyone to think that hostage taking was a lucrative business.

I think that the majority of those writing in the comments agree with me on this one.

However it would never have happened in the first place if equipment in the vid below had been allowed to be used.

Norman Tebbit in his blog, comments on piracy.

Another example of a labour government when being confronted with something out of their comfort zone. Going into blind panic.

Here he lays it out:

On 11 November 2008, the frigate HMS Cumberland intercepted a suspected pirate dhow. Eight suspected pirates were arrested.

It all sounded a rather well conducted operation, but curiously the Government spinmasters were not out telling us all of this NuLab triumph. I tried to find out more from the private office of the relevant Defence Minister, but was passed from one telephone extension to another, finishing up at one stage with the security guard at the main door.

That was the start. Next comes the killer:

Eventually I found a friendly official who told me that there was a problem because the Home and Foreign Offices were in a state of (I think she used the word “concern”, but “panic” seemed closer to the truth) over the possibilty that if the suspect pirates were brought here for trial they might claim political asylum.

The whole article is here and vindicates me in my article I wrote last year.

Lynn Rival and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

In todays Mail on Sunday there is an article about the inability of the RFA Wave Knight to prevent the rescue of the Chandlers. Read the article first before continuing

Details of the extraordinary stand-off on day six of the hostage crisis as the pirates attempted to transfer the pair from their yacht to their mother ship were disclosed by a member of the crew furious at the impotence of naval commanders.

Further on

The 31,500-ton Wave Knight sighted the Kota Wajar on the evening of October 28 and immediately tried to intimidate her by closing to less than 100 yards. At this point the Lynn Rival was not in sight so there were no hostages on board the pirate ship.

At this time the Wave Knight was not a threat to the wellbeing of the Hostages.

In an earlier statement to the press, the MOD had tried to assert that the civilian manned Wave Knight did not have the expertise to attempt force on the pirates. That statement is a load of utter Bollocks.

I left the sister ship, the Wave Ruler, in July, our last mission before setting of back to the UK, was those very same piracy patrols.

The ship's weaponry consisted of 2 x 30mm quick firing cannons, rate of fire 100 rounds per minute, 2 x mark 8 miniguns firing rate 3000 rounds per minute, and 5 x general purpose machine guns, firing at 200 rounds per minute. If Wave knight had the same weaponry, and I'm sure she did, she could have stopped that mother ship dead.

Much is made of the Wave Knight having a civilian crew, and gives the impression that the crew are amateurs with weapons. I beg to differ with that premise. On the Wave Ruler we were constantly exercising our weapons crews, including one live shoot per week. Incidentally we had a young stewardess who was not only highly proffesional with weapon firing procedure but was also superb at target destruction. (I know, as I have done the Royal Naval weapons maintainer course)

The truth I suspect is that even though there are clear rules of engagement, due to satellite communications, those back in the UK would have had their fingers in the till regarding the decision making at all times. In my opinion the Captain of the Wave Knight would have had his hands tied behind his back.