cssn - The Caribbean Safety and Security Net

2012 – Assault Resulting in Death in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – St. Vincent – Wallilabou

Incident Date: 2016-03-04 at 01:35

Event Type: Assault Resulting in Death

Stolen Items: unknown

Secured: Unknown

Source Type: 2nd Hand Report

Incident Details: From local news reports: 2 masked gunmen boarded a yacht in Wallilabou at 1:35AM. One person (German national) onboard was killed, and another German national injured. No firsthand details are currently available, local News reports indicate that the Coast Guard was summoned and arrived within 20 minutes. Police investigating, but no arrests at this time. CSSN UPDATE: the following AP Press Report includes some additional details about this tragic event. An unidentified suspect is being questioned by SVG authorities, but has not been charged in the killing, leaving 1 man dead, and 2 injured, including the ship's captain. Money and credit cards were stolen.| |http://news.yahoo.com/st-vincent-probes-killing-german-tourist-aboard-yacht-202907143.html

March 4, 2016

2015 – Assault in Saint Lucia – Soufriere

Incident Date: 2016-03-02 at 22:00

Event Type: Assault

Stolen Items: Wallets and Camera

Secured: N/A

Source Type: 2nd Hand Report

Incident Details: UPDATED as FIRST HAND REPORT 11 March 2016:On the evening of March 2, 2016, returning from dinner ashore at 10 PM, on the SMMA dock that serves the Hummingbird and Still Resorts at Soufriere, St. Lucia, a party of 7 cruisers, accompanied by the Still Resort security guard, were robbed by 3 masked attackers who had a gun, a machete and a club. The security guard was knocked down. The robbers demanded money at gunpoint. They were given wallets and a camera. One woman’s purse was cut off her shoulder with the machete. Her husband was struck on the head with the blunt side of the machete. When the group came into the dock originally, they declined the dinghy watching “service” of some teenagers. The teens were quite unhappy about it and threatened to return with a machete. The cruisers departed St. Lucia immediately. The Still Resort staff has kept the victims advised after making a report to the Royal St. Lucia Police, who are investigating. The camera and wallets (containing only ID)have been recovered.

March 2, 2016

2075 – Theft in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – St. Vincent – Buccament Bay

Incident Date: 2016-02-14 at 21:30

Event Type: Theft

Stolen Items: Two pairs of flip flops

Secured: Not Locked

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: A yacht at anchor had raised and locked their dinghy on stern davits for the night. The yacht itself was fully closed and locked as well. At approximately 2130 hours the captain was awakened by noise against the deck/hull and went to investigate. He discovered three men with scarves covering their heads and faces, rummaging in the hoisted dinghy. The men immediately rowed away in their hard local dinghy. The captain made calls on VHF 16/68 to the SVG Coast Guard, but had no response. They informed the one other yacht in the bay and re-anchored closer to the hotel. The next day it was discovered that canvas covers on forward hatches had been slashed and two pairs of flip flops had been taken from the dinghy. The yacht departed for Bequia the next morning, and made a police report there. CSSN NOTE: While the report to local officials was made in a timely way, this report has just been received by CSSN and is included now for completeness of the records.

February 14, 2016

2009 – Theft in Martinique (France) – Schoelcher

Incident Date: 2016-01-27 at 15:00

Event Type: Theft

Stolen Items: Dinghy gas tank

Secured: Not Locked

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: We tied up the dinghy to the town dock in Schoelcher around 3 pm. We didn’t lock up, however. Some
youngish local guys were hanging around, eating peanuts. On our return at 5pm the gas tank was gone. We found a few peanut shells inside the dinghy. A report was filed with with Gendarmes (the local police).

January 27, 2016

2010 – Attempted Piracy in Nicaragua – Offshore

Incident Date: 2016-01-27 at

Event Type: Attempted Piracy

Stolen Items: None

Secured: Unknown

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: A large motor yacht was on passage between Colon, Panama and Roatan, Honduras off the coast of Nicaragua north of Isla Providencia (Colombia) when a 60 foot steel fishing boat attempted to ram and board them. At full speed (14 knots) the motor yacht was able to successfully outrun the pirates. A report was made to the US Coast Guard.||CSSN UPDATE First hand report just in from the victims: "Pirates tried to ram and board us off the coast of Nicaragua. They gave chase and at full speed we were able to outrun them. A warning to all cruisers needs to be initiated. We were in transit from Colon, Panama to Roatan, Honduras. We were taking the outside route north of la Providencia ." The vessel was a 60 foot steel vessel- white and blue. Very good condition. Boat name – Mister Henson. Fishing Vessel with crab fence. No other fishing equipment. Minimum of 6 men aboard.||Time 11 am Wednesday morning, January 27. Location :N14*30'13.0 W 081*55'41.9 The Captain was communicating with other boat/partner name Reynaldo. They switched to SSB and we're discussing money. Additional CSSN sources advised: A "Quick [internet] search [revealed the existence of a] Mister Henson IMO # 9064607 trawler built 1992 by Rodriguez Boat Builders Bayou La Batre Alabama. The tonnage is way high to be the boat at 120 ton. But it is flagged Honduras and a search of the builder shows expedition trawlers of 70 feet. If the 120 ton is a typo this is the boat.

January 27, 2016

2008 – Robbery in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Bequia – Princess Margaret Beach

Incident Date: 2016-01-23 at

Event Type: Robbery

Stolen Items: Small waterproof bag containing a camera and personal items.

Secured: Does not apply

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: We were returning to our boat after an evening out. I had just|stepped onto the dinghy dock when a man suddenly appeared right behind|me and grabbed my small waterproof shoulder bag. It was around my|neck so he used a machete and cut the strap. He ran away down the|beach and into the woods. No injuries, but reported to Police, Coast Guard, local VHF Net, and Bequia Tourism Office.||CSSN UPDATE :||The stolen bag was recovered on the south end of the beach by a resident. The camera and reading|glasses were gone. Dinghy lights, boat cards and a pen remained in the bag.||We asked the Bequia police about getting a copy of the police|report. To do this we must make an application and then take the ferry to|St Vincent, find our way to some specific police station and pay $100 EC to|get a copy of the official police report that we made. We later confirmed this burdensome ""victim unfriendly"" process several times with not only the police but others in the community.

January 23, 2016

2005 – Robbery in Saint Martin (France) – Marigot Bay

Incident Date: 2016-01-18 at 15:30

Event Type: Robbery

Stolen Items: Electronics

Secured: Unknown

Source Type: 2nd Hand Report

Incident Details: It was reported by the victims on the local St Martin VHF net, that at approximately 3:30 am (local) Monday, while they were anchored near the bridge in Marigot Bay, French St. Martin, they were boarded and robbed by 3 men with French accents who arrived in a hard dinghy with an outboard that had no cowling/cover. They were threatened and robbed of electronics. It is not known at this time if their boat was locked, what if any weapons the men had, if there were any injuries , damage to the yacht, or if a report has been made to the local police. CSSN will update this report when we receive additional information.

January 18, 2016

2004 – Theft in Saint Martin (France) – Marigot Bay

Incident Date: 2016-01-17 at 16:30

Event Type: Theft

Stolen Items: 11.6 inflatable AB dinghy with 15hp outboard

Secured: Locked

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: A locked/chained (3/16 SS) 11.6 AB dinghy stolen from the Marigot SXM(FR) town dock between the hours of 4pm and 6pm , broad daylight, Sunday afternoon. Reported to the Police.

January 17, 2016

2011 – Piracy in United States Virgin Islands (US) – St. Croix – Southcoast

Incident Date: 2016-01-15 at 11:00

Event Type: Piracy

Stolen Items: electronics, cash

Secured: N/A

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: On January 14, 2016 a French single-hander, en route from the Bahamas to Guadeloupe stopped to rest overnight in a protected anchorage on the southwest coast of St. Croix. The next morning, 30 minutes after departing the anchorage at 1100 HRS, while under power, and then located about 1.5 miles offshore, he was approached and boarded in an act of piracy by 2 of 3 young men onboard a big fishing boat. The men aggressively threatened him, shouting “drugs, money” and punched him in the face and then stabbed/slashed his lower left leg. They took cash and electronics from below. The captain was then shot in the right thigh at close range, severely wounding him, and left on the floor of his drifting boat when the men departed. The captain, although bleeding profusely and in severe pain was able to maneuver his boat back into the industrial harbor alongside a tug. He tossed shells, winch handles, etc. at the side of the tug. It took about 45 minutes before he was able to get the attention of anyone on the much larger tug. A tug crewmember eventually investigated the unusual noises and then summoned the police and ambulance. The victim was transported to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for his serious injuries, some 3 hours after the initial attack. The boat was put in the care of the police, and later hauled for storage. After a period of hospitalization, the victim was stabilized and then returned to France, where he remains hospitalized after additional surgeries. CSSN NOTE: CSSN wishes to thank the Good Samaritan who assisted the victim with communications and translated a first person report from French. CSSN suggests that anyone who finds themselves in a serious situation while outside their home country, particularly if not able to speak the local language, make or request contact with the closest of their home country Consular Services/Embassy. Consular officials can assist with a variety of helpful emergency resources, including qualified translators, communications with family/friends as well as with all of the appropriate local officials. CSSN will post further updates here as they become available.

January 15, 2016

2003 – Assault in Belize – Bannister Caye

Incident Date: 2016-01-13 at 22:00

Event Type: Assault

Stolen Items: Outboard motor, computers and hard drives, passport, cash, jewelry, food

Secured: Locked

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: An unidentified launch came along side at anchor while everyone aboard was asleep. Four men in 20-30 age range came aboard each armed with a pistol. One female guest was sexually assaulted, and later treated at the local hospital.||Cash, camera, computers, food, drinks, jewelry, and an outboard motor were stolen.||The launch left at high speed in a southwesterly direction.||The entire event lasted about 45 minutes, and was reported to the Police, Coast Guard, Port Captain and marina.

January 13, 2016

Author: cssn Archives