(UPI) The British government says it won’t pay a $7 million ransom demanded by the Somali hijackers of a couple’s yacht.  Source

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• Somali pirates free Turkish ship after ransom

     (Reuters)  Somali pirates freed a Turkish ship on Monday after a pirate source said the hijackers received a $1.5 million ransom.  Source

• China willing to pay ransom for the freedom of Cosco Bulk Carriers

    China has begun “secret” negotiations to free the cargo ship De Xin Hai and its crew from the clutches of Somali hijackers, the South China Morning Post reported, as relayed by Bloomberg. Chinese Shipowners’ Association secretary general Zhang Zuyue confirmed that the Chinese side is willing to pay a ransom.

• Search for UK couple missing in Somalias pirate-field

     (AP) A British couple that set sail in a yacht from the island nation of Seychelles have likely been hijacked by Somali pirates in the waters off East Africa, a coast guard official said Tuesday.  Source

• New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup (NYYC)

     (sail-world)  In a year that marks its 165th anniversary, the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is organizing the Invitational Cup, a highly anticipated fleet racing regatta to take place in Newport, R.I. from September 15-19, 2009. ‘This event is, in fact, the world championship for the main yacht clubs of the world,’ said Bruno Troublé,

• Iranian Navy retains five Britons on the yacht in the Gulf

     (BBC) Five Britons have been detained by the Iranian navy while sailing a yacht from Bahrain to Dubai for a race, the Foreign Office (FCO) has said.  Their Volvo 60 yacht backed by the UK’s Team Pindar was stopped on 25 November.  Source

• Boat disaster a mystery

     (stuff.co.nz)  Two veterans of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race were killed and 16 crew members had to be rescued yesterday after a multimillion-dollar maxi yacht ran aground off the NSW South Coast.  Source

• Lifeboats rescue as yacht sinks Duo

     (Clacton)  LIFEBOAT crews saved two people from a yacht which run aground eight miles off Clacton.  Vessels from Clacton and Walton, as well as a rescue helicopter from Belgium, helped recover the yachtsmen from their yacht, Rhubarb.  Source

• Somali pirates release Greek ship

    Somali pirates have released a Greek-owned ship hijacked five months ago and freed its 21 Filipino crew members, officials and pirates have said. “The MV Irene is free. All 21 crew are safe and sound,” maritime official Andrew Mwangura told AFP news agency. Reuters news agency cited a pirate as

• Somaliland forces help free Yemeni-flagged ship

    Somaliland forces have helped in releasing a Yemeni-flagged container ship held by Somali pirates for nearly three weeks, Yemeni Interior Ministry said on Sunday. Al-Mahmoud ship, carrying 15 crew members on board, was freed from Somali pirates on Friday with the help of the Somaliland naval forces, said the Interior

• Classic Yachts Ride the wind and waves in Return to Newport

     (nytimes)  Something familiar caught Harry Anderson’s eye as he walked the docks of Newport recently. Anderson, the former commodore of the Seawanhaka Corinthian and the New York Yacht Clubs, saw the 80 wooden sailboats that had been gathered for the Museum of Yachting’s annual Classic Yacht Regatta, but there was one, its sharp

• Marine Too Stretched on piracy in the Indian Ocean: UK

    Ships using the Indian Ocean will not receive the same level of naval protection from pirates as those in the Gulf of Aden because military resources are tight, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said. Somali pirates have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by hijacking ships in the

• Piracy fears after boat vanishes

     (AFP)  An international maritime search for a cargo ship is underway on Wednesday amid fears that it may have been commandeered by hijackers while sailing through the English Channel.  Source

• No report of injuries or losses of the two abducted ships: IMF Officer

    There was no report about any injuries and casualties so far on the two ships kidnapped by Somali pirates on Monday, an officer of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said here on Wednesday.

• Yacht couple rescued by lifeboats

     (BBC) A couple in their 60s had to be rescued by lifeboats from Sheerness and Whitstable in Kent after the man fell overboard from their yacht.  Source

• Maersk Alabama Defend 2nd Pirate attack with Guns

    Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.