A gang of pirates armed with rifles and swords or machetes has attacked a luxury yacht carrying Australian tourists off New Caledonia, knocked the captain to the deck and looted the boat, according to reports.
Two Australian holidaymakers and three guides were exploring a coral atoll near Ouvéa, an idyllic isle favoured by cruise ships, when raiders approached their boat and opened fire, New Caledonia public prosecutor Alexis Bouroz said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“A boat from Ouvéa came to meet them with seven to eight people aboard, some of them apparently armed with guns and machetes,” Bouroz said.
The attackers fired shots in the air and at the boat before five or six pirates boarded.
Tourists were only “lightly injured” but the skipper was hit in the face and knocked to the deck, Bouroz said.
After that, the boat was reported to have been looted while one of its engines and its electronic equipment was destroyed.
While the attack has not made the news in many English-language channels, reports have been carried by numerous French-language outlets, including Paris morning newspaper Le Figaro, the longest-established national daily in France.
Tahiti-infos.com reported that the pirates were brandishing “des fusils et de sabres“ (firearms and sabres, the latter possibly machetes).
The prosecutor said that the incident occurred Monday afternoon near Beautemps Beaupré Island, a coral atoll northwest of Ouvéa.
“Two Australian tourists and three companions came to observe the underwater world with a boat from a luxury yacht, the Masteka 2, which anchored further offshore,” Tahiti-infos.com said.
A boat from Ouvéa carrying pirates then intercepted the vessel.
The site quoted an officer on the boat, Vincent Ventrella. In a statement to French-language news agency Agence France-Presse, Ventrella said the attackers had apparently commandeered a local tourist excursion boat to launch the raid.
Ouvea, perfect laid-back Pacific paradise
The planned tourist visit to the coral atoll, a Unesco World Heritage-listed tribal reserve, had been organised after a formal request to the traditional Kanak custodians, Ventrella said.
Masteka 2 features on several websites as “a modern, magnificent 122ft [37 metre] superyacht available for private luxury charter” which boasts “five luxurious cabins accommodating 12 guests overnight, a lower and upper lounge and enormous open deck area”.
Asia-based news outlet Channel News Asia quoted New Caledonia’s tourism department condemning the violence, saying the attack targeted small-scale but high-yield tourism, the very type of tourism it was trying to encourage.
News outlets quoted a spokesperson from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) acknowledging it was “aware of media reports that a number of Australians were involved in an incident in New Caledonia”, adding: “We stand ready to offer consular assistance.”
New Caledonian authorities have reportedly identified the main suspect and issued an arrest warrant for aggravated violence, theft with violence and intimidatory behaviour endangering the public. .
In a statement, the president of New Caledonia’s southern province, Sonia Backés, strongly condemned the aggression, which she said was “highly detrimental to tourism activities.”
International symbol of piracy
Written by Peter Needham
.jpg){kind=tracking}