Boats to Be Protected from Pirates by Armed Guards While Passing by Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa-- Volvo Ocean Race organizers say boats will be loaded onto a ship and protected by armed guards when they pass through the pirate-filled waters off the East African coast.

The yachts, worth millions of dollars, will be picked up by a heavy lift ship in an undisclosed "safe haven port" in the Indian Ocean during the second leg, which starts Sunday in Cape Town.

They will be transported to another starting point near Sharjah for the leg's final run to Abu Dhabi so crews are not exposed to the dangerous channel off Somalia.

Race chief executive Knut Frostad says "we are still a round-the-world race, we still navigate the globe, but we are simply avoiding part of the ocean which we are advised is unsafe for our boats."