French Luxury Yacht Seized by Pirates

Le Ponant, a 288-ft French luxury yacht, was on its way back to the Med from the Seychelles on Friday when it was overtaken by pirates in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia. The yacht’s 30 crewmembers — no passengers were aboard — are being held hostage while authorities negotiate with their captors. Meanwhile, French military forces are tracking the yacht and an elite team of French commandos are on their way to "reinforce" the negotiations team. We’ll keep you updated on this situation in future editions of ‘Lectronic Latitude.