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Round-the-world sailors warned about pirate risk

A photo received from the Volvo Ocean Race on Wednesday and taken on Sunday shows the yacht Ericsson 3 passing Telefonica Blue on the second leg of the around-the-world race from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cochin, India. PHOTO: AFP

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.

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.
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