Le Ponant
Encyclopedia
Le Ponant is a three-masted, commercially operated French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
luxury yacht
Luxury yacht
The term luxury yacht, “Superyacht” and "Large Yacht" refers to very expensive, privately owned yachts which are professionally crewed. Also known as a Super Yacht, a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht.-History:...
owned by CMA CGM
CMA CGM
CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company, headed by Jacques Saadé. It is the third largest container company in the world, using 200 shipping routes between 400 ports in 150 different countries...
and operated under their Compagnie du Ponant
Compagnie du Ponant
Compagnie du Ponant is a French cruise line company. It launched the first French cruise ship. It was founded in April 1988 by Philippe Videau and Jean-Emmanuel Saved, and other officers of the French Merchant Navy...
brand. The ship carries up to 67 passengers in 32 cabins. It was built 1991 by the SFCN shipyard in France.
Operation Thalathine
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
pirates in the Gulf of Aden
Gulf of Aden
The Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which is about 20 miles wide....
while en route from the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
to the Mediterranean. The ship carried no passengers at the time of its capture, but all 30 crewmembers were taken hostage; one Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
ian, six Filipinos
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, 22 French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and one Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. French forces, including the aviso
Aviso
An aviso , a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy, they are considered equivalent to the modern sloop....
Commandant Bouan
D'Estienne d'Orves class
The A69 type Avisos are small warships mainly designed for coastal anti-submarine defence, but are also available for high sea escort missions . Built on a simple and robust design, they have an economical and reliable propulsion system which allows them to be used for overseas presence missions...
and a Canadian CH-124 helicopter from HMCS Charlottetown
HMCS Charlottetown (FFH 339)
HMCS Charlottetown is a that has served in the Royal Canadian Navy since 1995.Charlottetown is the tenth ship in her class which is based on the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the third vessel to carry the designation ....
were monitoring the yacht after its seizure.
The hostages were released without incident on April 12.
Following the release, French helicopters tracked the pirates from the Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
military base
Military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
to the village of Jariban
Jariban
-Overview:Jariban has a population of approximately 20,000 residents. It is primarily inhabited by people from the Somali ethnic group.-References:*...
. French commando marine
Naval commandos (France)
The Naval Commandos are the special forces of the French Navy. They are made up of ~500 members, mostly based in northwestern France , with several bases across the country for specific training needs. The Naval Commandos are nicknamed bérets verts . Their qualification training is one of the...
and GIGN operating from the frigate Jean Bart and the Jeanne d'Arc moved in when the pirates attempted to flee in the desert. A sniper disabled the get-away vehicle, and the commandos were able to capture six men. Local officials claimed that three people died in the raid, with a further eight wounded, but France denied this. Troops also recovered some of the ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
money paid by the owner of the yacht for the release of its crew. The six captured pirates have since been flown to Paris, where they shall face trial.
Videos
- April, 7th 2008 http://www.dailymotion.com/related/8373320/video/x506b4_le-gign-a-la-rescousse-du-ponant_news (in French)
- Video Shows French Yacht Rescue, CNN.com April 15, 2008
External links
- Operator's website
- Manhunt (military)Manhunt (military)Manhunting is the deliberate identification, capturing, or killing of senior or otherwise important enemy combatants, classified as high-value targets, usually by special operations forces and intelligence organizations...