Sailors in the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race have been warned about the danger of pirates off the coast of Somalia and will be monitored by warships patrolling the Indian Ocean, organizers said.
The race is already considered to be one of the toughest endurance tests in the world, but this year there has been added concern because of increasing attacks by Somali pirates, sometimes very far out to sea.
“All 88 sailors were briefed on the risks of piracy,” race communications director Marcus Hutchinson told reporters by phone.
PHOTO: AFP
For the first time in the 35-year history of the race, the course will take the yachts to China and India — and efforts have been made to keep them well away from the Gulf of Aden, which has seen dozens of pirate attacks this year.
Organizers have drawn a diagonal line through Mauritius and anything northwest of the line is considered off-limits.
“But even if they cross this line, they will still be 650 miles [1,046km] from Somalia,” Hutchinson said. “They have little chance of coming within 1,000 miles of the Somali coast.”
Still, pirates last Saturday attacked a Saudi supertanker the size of three soccer pitches and captured it around 800km out to sea, and the race planners stress that they are taking no chances.
“As with every race, we alerted the maritime authorities about the passage of the fleet and the navies that patrol the region are receiving regular updates on their positions,” Hutchinson said.
The eight boats will cover 60,000km over nine months, calling at 11 ports including Qingdao, China and Kochi, a port in southwest India.
The teams started in Spain and are currently on the second leg from South Africa to Cochin, where they are expected to arrive next month.
“In this second stage we will stay a reasonable distance from the risk zone,” Anders Lewer, captain of the Swedish boat Ericsson 3, said before setting sail from South Africa. “There are other risky areas — the important thing is to be aware of the dangers.”
The next stage takes them towards Singapore, passing south of Sri Lanka and through the Straits of Malacca, both considered risky areas by the International Maritime Bureau.
Stages 4 and 5 toward Qingdao in China and then Rio de Janeiro will also take the crews through danger zones — either off the coast of the Philippines or between Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
A baseball team from New Taipei City won the US Pony Palomino Division World Series yesterday in Laredo, Texas, defeating the US West representative team from Azusa, California, 2-1. Ku-Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School earned the right to represent Taiwan in the Pony Palomino (17 to 18 age group) World Series after winning this year's Wang Chen-chih Cup, a competition named after Taiwanese-Japanese baseball legend Wang Chen-chih (王貞治), also known as Sadaharu Oh. In the championship game against Azusa, Ku-Pao's starting pitcher Luo Yu-yan (羅于晏) was erratic early, giving up two hits in the bottom of the first inning, followed
Taiwanese pitcher Teng Kai-wei took the mound in New York on Saturday as the starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants in his MLB season debut against the New York Mets, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing five runs. The Taiwanese right-hander struggled early, giving up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, including a three-run homer to Mets slugger Pete Alonso — his 250th career home run. However, Teng was not fazed and soon found his footing, holding the Mets scoreless in the bottom of the second and third innings. Meanwhile, Mets starter Kodai Senga of Japan made a few errors
RSS