Four Americans were killed by Somali priates who had hijacked their yacht in the Indian Ocean near the coast of Somalia. The SV Quest, which was taken over on Friday, had been shadowed by a U.S. Navy warship. According to CBS News, "Gunshots aboard the yacht were heard, and the warship took action. All 4 Americans were dead, killed apparently by their captors. There were more than a dozen pirates on board, some dead and others captured."
The yacht was owned by Scott and Jean Adam, who spent half the year in Marina de Rey, California, and the other half sailing, often distributing Bibles in remote parts of the South Pacific, Central America, New Zealand and Alaska. The Adams were planning to sail from Sri Lanka to Crete in the Mediterranean, via the Suez Canal, making stops in India, Oman and Djibouti. Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, both of Seattle, were sailing with the Adams and were also killed. Macay had stopped emailing her family because of the threat of pirates. And Scott Adam's friend said the last email he received was from February 12, "They basically had said we're not going to be in communication for 10 or 12 days because we know this is territory where there could be problems and we don't want pirates or other people to know our location."
Yesterday, Graeme Gibbon-Brooks, the head of Dryad Maritime Intelligence, told MSNBC that the pirates probably wouldn't hurt their captives because they wouldn't get any ransom money if they did: "They risk the collapse of their business model if they change their status quo and the American government deems that they pose an immediate threat to the safety of American citizens... They've made a mistake, and it's in the Somalis' business interest to get off the yacht as soon as possible."
Last week, the only surviving Somali pirate from the Maersk Alabama incident pleaded guilty to charges and received a nearly 34-year sentence.
