Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

The mission to rescue the hostages the world forgot

Colin Freeman

• Publisher: Icon Books
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781785787027
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785787034
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 21st Century History
• Index: History

'Captivating, a John le Carre-esque yarn' Telegraph

'A thoroughly good read' Michael Portillo, author of Portillo's Hidden History of Britain and presenter of Great British Railway Journeys

'A compelling story of courage, determination and skill' Terry Waite CBE, author of Taken on Trust

The true story of a retired British army officer's private Somali-hostage rescue mission

During the peak of the Somali piracy crisis, three ships - from Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan - were hijacked and then abandoned to their fate by their employers, who lacked the money to pay ransoms. All would still be there, were it not for Colonel John Steed, a retired British military attaché, who launched his own private mission to free them.

At 65, Colonel Steed was hardly an ideal saviour. With no experience in hostage negotiations and no money behind him, he had to raise the ransom cash from scratch, running the operation from his spare room and ferrying million-dollar ransom payments around in the boot of his car.

Drawing on first-hand interviews, former chief foreign correspondent of The Sunday Telegraph, Colin Freeman, who has himself spent time held hostage by Somali pirates, takes readers on an inside track into the world of hostage negotiation and one man's heroic rescue mission.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• About the Author
• Epigraph
• List of Key People
• Timeline of Hijackings
• Map
• Author’s Note
• Prologue: The Luckiest Man in East Africa
• Chapter 1: Sinking Feeling
• Chapter 2: It ’s a Sailor’s Life for Me
• Chapter 3: Maiden Voyage
• Chapter 4: Hunted Down
• Chapter 5: Pit of Despair
• Chapter 6: Seafood Slaves
• Chapter 7: Rules of Engagement
• Chapter 8: Mother Ship
• Chapter 9: Slaughter
• Chapter 10: A Captain’s Duty
• Chapter 11: Son of a Pig
• Chapter 12: The Humanitarian
• Chapter 13: In Arrears
• Chapter 14: The Lady Pirate
• Chapter 15: ‘Project Benedict’
• Chapter 16: ‘Captain Birdseye’
• Chapter 17: The Gentleman Amateur
• Chapter 18: A Lead-Lined Suitcase
• Chapter 19: ‘Not in My Children’s Children’s Lifetime’
• Chapter 20: Men of Honour
• Chapter 21: Bandit Country
• Chapter 22: Homecoming
• Chapter 23: Ocean Swell
• Chapter 24: Delivery Problems
• Chapter 25: Rat Curry
• Chapter 26: The Odd Couple
• Chapter 27: Pirate Conference Call
• Afterword
• Acknowledgements
• Plates
• Copyright