German Cruiser Kidnapped Again

On Monday, the Associated Press reported that a German sailor who was kidnapped by Somali pirates eight years ago has apparently been captured again — this time by Islamic militants in the southern Philippines. Members of that country’s military found the man’s yacht with a woman’s body aboard.

Major Filemon Tan of the Philippine military reports that Abu Sayyaf militants have announced that they kidnapped Jurgen Gustav Kantner and killed his female companion while the couple was cruising off neighboring Malaysia’s Sabah coast. Villagers from Laparan Island, in the Sulu province of the southwestern Philippines, found Kantner’s German-flagged yacht, Rockall, with a woman’s body aboard, lying beside a shotgun.

In 2008 Kantner, 70, who is diabetic, and his wife, Sabine Merz, were kidnapped off Somalia — apparently from the same boat — and were later freed. Judging from the passports found onboard, the deceased woman is believed to be Merz. "The body found was naked and had several contusions to the face and was possibly raped," the military said.

Despite a sizable joint offensive by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia to ensure safety on their seas, the Abu Sayyaf have recently committed many acts of piracy, kidnapping Indonesians and Malaysians from tugboats and fishing boats.

Anticipating that the terrorist group, which supports itself through ransom payoffs, may soon demand ransom for Kantner, Major Tan explained the Philippine government’s no-ransom policy: "If we give in to ransom, a greater damage will be done. They can use the money to buy arms and to feed their bandits, and that will fuel again the tendency for them to kidnap," he said. "It becomes a lucrative business."