They scattered, convinced that this vessel was no easy prey. So he spun the boat around and headed straight at his pursuers. With the skiffs bearing down on him, Holmes made a life-and-death calculation: It’s better to take fire fore than aft, he concluded. Then the plane taking him to freedom from Somalia was highjacked, and the captain spent another two months in captivity. Holmes knows a captain held for six months after his 48-foot boat was sunk. In that part of the Indian Ocean, home to some of the world’s finest marlin fishing, the threat of being highjacked and losing your boat is real. The $6 million vessel can cruise at 46 knots and will have armed guards accompanying it on each trip. Thomas Holmes looks forward to the launch of his new command, the 88-foot Mantra. After being chased by Somali pirates while marlin fishing in the Indian Ocean, Capt. 31, a Somali pirate commander trumpeted to the world that he had just killed a hostage after ransom delays. Several hundred crew from all manner of vessels are held today in Somali coastal towns. Powerful skiffs, operated by Somalis with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, are the vessels of choice for pirates plaguing the Indian Ocean. Thomas Holmes was marlin hunting in that 68-footer off the Seychelles, an island nation 900 miles from Africa’s east coast, when two skiffs closed fast behind him. We should hope that Mantra, the 88-foot sportfishing yacht from Weaver Boatworks, about to depart Tracy’s Landing for some of the world’s most dangerous waters, avoids the perils of the last Mantra.Ĭapt.
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