Le Ponant
 Coming to St. George’s in December 2017
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The Le Ponant is a French sailing ship that is used as a cruise ship . The ship is operated by Compagnie du Ponant .
The ship was completed in 1991 under hull number 863-1 at the Société Française de Construction Navale (SFCN) shipyard in Villeneuve-la-Garenne near Paris. The three-master has a total sail area of 1500 m². As an additional drive, the ship has a sixteen - cylinder four - stroke diesel engine from Deutz with an output of 1680 kW , which acts on a controllable pitch propeller .
The ship offers space for 64 passengers on four passenger decks, who can be accommodated in a total of 32 cabins. The number of crew members is 32 people.
Pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden
On April 4, 2008 at 11:15 am local time, the ship was ambushed by twelve pirates and hijacked with 30 crew members en route from the Seychelles to Alexandria in Egypt in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia . Passengers were not on board the ship that was brought by the pirates to the region off the Somali province of Puntland at the time. On April 5, 2008, the Ponant reached the Somali port of Garaad and anchored there.
On the day of the kidnapping at 1:30 p.m. local time, the French Prime Minister triggered the pirate-mer emergency plan , which provided for the mobilization of all available forces.
The day after the kidnapping, France dispatched the frigate Commandant Bouan , which was in the region as part of the multinational Combined Task Force 150, to the Somalia sea area to follow the pirates. On April 7, the Groupe d'intervention de la gendarmerie nationale (GIGN), a special unit for the rescue of hostages, was also sent to the region to rescue the ship's crew by force if necessary.
Furthermore, the helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc and the frigate Jean Bart were dispatched to the sea area off Somalia. On April 11, a week after the ship was hijacked, it became known that the pirates had released the ship's crew. The freedmen were first taken in by Jean Bart and later brought to the French military base in Djibouti . A ransom of $ 2,150,000.00 had been paid for his release. The French captain, who was initially still in the hands of the pirates, was freed shortly after the crew was released by soldiers of the French navy, who followed the pirates fleeing ashore with a helicopter. Six suspects were arrested during the operation and three other people were killed. Parts of the ransom and weapons were found in the car of the arrested.
All six were on 15./16. Brought to France in April 2008, brought before the magistrate on April 18, 2008 and finally charged . The Paris jury ( cour d'assises ) acquitted two of the defendants on June 14, 2012 and sentenced the other four to terms of between four and ten years in prison. As a result, the two acquitted were indemnified . In 2015 , France was sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights to indemnify all six arrested because of an unconventional delay in the appearance before the judge .
literature
- Patrick Marchesseau: Hostage-taking on Le Ponant: The captain's report on piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7822-0989-2 .
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ According to different information, 21 French citizens , six Filipinos, one Cameroonian and one Ukrainian (see hostages freed from the violence of pirates , Der Spiegel, April 11, 2008.) or 20 French citizens and ten others (see ECHR 5th section) , Ruling v. December 4, 2014 - 17110/10, 17301/10 (Ali Samatar et al ./. France).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f ECHR (5th section), judgment of December 4, 2014 - 17110/10, 17301/10 (Ali Samatar et al ./. France) ( official French version ; German unofficial translation in NJOZ 2016, 36).
- ^ French task force reaches Djibouti , Der Spiegel , April 7, 2008. Accessed February 24, 2020.
- ↑ Stefan Simons: Hostages freed, pirates leave luxury yacht , Der Spiegel, April 11, 2008. Accessed February 24, 2020.
- ^ A b c 5000 soldiers against a dozen pirates , Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 14, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
- ↑ Hostages freed from the violence of pirates , Spiegel Online, April 11, 2008. Accessed February 24, 2020.
- ↑ Two million dollar ransom for the luxury yacht , Der Spiegel, April 11, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2020.