Incident Date: 2018-11-24 at 02:00
Event Type: Theft
Stolen Items: fishing rod
Secured: Not Locked
Source Type: 2nd Hand Report
Incident Details: Overnight, A fishing rod was stolen from an anchored yacht while owners slept, it is not known if a police report was made.
Incident Date: 2018-04-18 at 09:00
Event Type: Attempted Piracy
Stolen Items: none, not successful
Secured: N/A
Source Type: 1st Hand Report
Incident Details: Two yachts departed Isla Providencia, Colombia for the Cayman Islands. They traveled northward together on a moonless night with lights and AIS. They were clear of the Gordo Banks region by about 30 miles. Feeling they were out of the piracy danger zone (see prior reports to CSSN) one of the boats raised full sail and began to pull away just before sunrise. || At 9 am the second yacht, a French flagged 51ft. monohull with a family of 5 onboard, at position 16-04.31N/81- 18.51W now more than 100 miles off the Honduran coast , sighted a fishing boat of about 10 meters overloaded with a dozen men onboard on an intersecting course. They attempted to contact their friends who were still in visual range on VHF 08, (which they had used sparingly overnight), but without success. They heard another conversation in a strange language/dialect (not Spanish/French/English) that included "barco grande, barco grande". When they tried to call their friends on VHF 16 the channel was immediately blocked by very loud, continuous music.| |The suspect pirate boat was able to pull parallel and close to 50 meters, and the occupants displayed a nervous and aggressive attitude. They were not friendly fishermen wanting to trade. No weapons were visible.||The yacht had put on all remaining sail and then attempted to add the engine, but it failed. Changing course to the SE put the pirate vessel at a disadvantage to the increasing wind and seas and the yacht was able to increase the distance separating the 2 vessels. Eventually the pirates fell back and the yacht turned northward. The yacht made contact with the French Coast Guard (Cross) by satellite phone, and the French Coast Guard maintained regular contact for the next several hours.| |At 5 PM, alerted by the French CG, the Honduran navy reached the yacht by satellite phone and advised in English that they were still in danger, and that there were now 2 armed Honduran Naval vessels approaching the area but outside VHF range, who would escort the yacht back to safe port in Honduras. The yacht declined, but welcomed the presence of the Honduran Navy, and continued northward toward their planned destination. ||Overnight and into the next day the French CG maintained regular satellite phone contact with the yacht, and later alerted officials in Cayman about the yachts expected arrival that evening, and their engineless status. They were met and assisted by Cayman CG/port officials to a mooring on arrival. ||CSSN would like to thank the volunteer translators who so kindly assisted with this report.
Incident Date: 2018-04-13 at 11:15
Event Type: Suspicious Activity
Stolen Items: N/A
Secured: N/A
Source Type: 1st Hand Report
Incident Details: A yacht transiting northward from Isla Providencia, Columbia to Grand Cayman, at a position of 15-45 N – 81-32 W was off the Gordo banks and traveling dark, and noticed a suspicious vessel on an intercept course from the WSW at 2245 HRS. At 2315 the suspect vessel was within a few hundred meters, displaying only running lights. The yacht assumed it was law enforcement and turned on its lights and made 3-4 calls on VHF 16 that were not answered. ||The suspect vessel continued to track on an intercept course and increased speed in clear pursuit. The yacht was now able to identify the large 70+ ft. boat as a fishing trawler type vessel. The yacht was making good speed with full sail and added engine to further increase speed and was able to outpace the suspect vessel, which after 20 minutes gave up the pursuit, then stopped dead and lit up. The captain believes he was a target of opportunity and that the trawler was on the banks to fish. ||CSSN NOTE: Routing, vigilance and preparation are important. Review summary piracy precautions specific to this area and other incidents on the dedicated regional piracy map, it's easy to Know Before You Go!|https://safetyandsecuritynet.org/piracy-passage-precautions-central-america/ |https://safetyandsecuritynet.org/regional-piracy-infographics/
Incident Date: 2018-04-08 at 09:00
Event Type: Theft
Stolen Items: Outboard
Secured: Locked
Source Type: 2nd Hand Report
Incident Details: Overnight, an unoccupied (but locked and minded) yacht on a mooring was broken into, and the dinghy outboard engine stolen. The mooring line was cut and the boat had grounded nearby where it was discovered by cruisers. It is not known if a police report was made.
Incident Date: 2018-01-18 at 17:00
Event Type: Attempted Piracy
Stolen Items: n/a
Secured: N/A
Source Type: 1st Hand Report
Incident Details: A sailing yacht with 2 persons onboard departed Belize for Panama via Providencia. Off the Gordo Banks at 5PM at a position of 16*36.700N 082*17.280W they observed a small fishing boat with an enclosure on an intersecting course. They immediately altered course 90 degrees and noticed the small boat continued to attempt to follow. 2 other small fishing boats were spotted about 2-3 miles further away.||Listening to VHF they heard a discussion in Spanish about stealing a dingy (theirs was on the foredeck) and no other vessels were in the vicinity. The crew hailed a merchant vessel located about 15 nm away, and one of the small fishing boats made a false response, attempting to impersonate the merchant vessel. A private VHF DSC call was made to the merchant ship. Radar indicated that the small boats were unable to close the gap into difficult sea and wind conditions, and had fallen further out of range as it became dark. The yacht continued without lights or AIS transmit.||The next day VHF traffic in Spanish was overheard discussing "keeping a lookout for a white sailboat that got away last night".||The yacht continued to Providencia without further incident.
Incident Date: 2017-10-28 at 12:00
Event Type: Piracy
Stolen Items: cash,phone,GPS,computer,dive gear,fishing gear,food,medicine,rum and many small items
Secured: Not Locked
Source Type: 1st Hand Report
Incident Details: A single hander departed Livingston, Guatemala for Isla de Providencia, Colombia. At noon, when about 35 miles offshore of the Honduras/Nicaragua border he was boarded while motoring by 20 men in 3 pirogues.||The pirates did NOT display any weapons, but simply overran the yacht. The captain did not resist in any way. The pirates ransacked the yacht for about an hour. They “”””took everything””””, cash, phone, GPS, computer, dive gear, fishing gear, food, medicine, rum and many small items. The captain was able to negotiate with the leaders and was allowed to keep a navigational computer and a small GPS, as well as some jerry jugs of diesel. The pirates asked for drugs (there were none) before finally departing.||There were no injuries. The captain describes that damage to the yacht was out of ignorance, not malice. A report was made to Colombian officials in Providencia on arrival.
Incident Date: 2017-04-13 at 08:00
Event Type: Piracy
Stolen Items: VHF, SSB. EPIRB, flares, outboard engine, binoculars, smartphones, tools,security items, clothing, suitcases, toiletries and many more small items
Secured: Not Locked
Source Type: 1st Hand Report
Incident Details: A sailing vessel departed the Rio Dulce, Guatemala intending to visit Utila, Honduras. They were motor sailing in light winds and at 8:00 AM, they were about 10 miles off the coast and were boarded by pirates. 4 men boarded (2 armed with handguns) and 1 remained in the open fishing boat. ||The pirates were very aggressive, and fired their guns several times very close to the heads of the crew to ensure compliance. The crew spoke French and pretended not to "understand" while the boat was ransacked for about 1 hour. ||The pirates took everything they could, while taking no precautions to conceal their identities. Once satisfied with their haul they departed in the direction of the Honduran coast. ||There were no injuries to the crew. The yacht was able to make radio contact with the Puerto Cortes naval base and routed there to make reports to the Coast Guard, Police and Port Captain.
Incident Date: 2017-04-06 at 20:00
Event Type: Robbery
Stolen Items: Cash, iPads, cellphone, electronics, cameras, monitors, fuel tank, propane cylinder, plus more
Secured: Does not apply
Source Type: 1st Hand Report
Incident Details: A yacht with 2 persons onboard anchored off Graham's Place around 4PM , and visited the palapa ashore. They met a man who identified himself by name and then asked several questions about thier planned stay, and number of persons on board.||At 8 PM they were boarded by 4 armed men (3 – 9mm handguns, 1 rifle) ,wearing military style pants, 2 hooded, and all wearing ranger type boots. One of the men was the man they had met earlier at the palapa. The men demanded all things of value and threatened to kill the crew if they made any noise or resisited. The captain/crew complied, and the men departed with cash, electronics, iPads, cameras, cellphone, a gas tank, and a propane cylinder after threatening to return if any report was made.||A detailed report was made to the police and the port captain.
Incident Date: 2017-03-16 at 02:00
Event Type: Theft
Stolen Items: 85 HP outboard
Secured: Locked
Source Type: 2nd Hand Report
Incident Details: 85HP outboard engine locked on a panga was removed by thieves. An unsuccessful attempt was made to also remove a 15 HP outboard.
CSSN NOTE: a lifted (but not locked) panga with a well secured 40HP was stolen the same night from an adjacent dock.
Incident Date: 2017-03-16 at 01:10
Event Type: Theft
Stolen Items: 18 ft Panga with Yamaha 40 HP engine
Secured: Not Locked
Source Type: 1st Hand Report
Incident Details: A panga with a well secured 40 HP outboard was lifted at a private dock. Video surveillance from shore revealed that at 1:10 AM the thief unscrewed the light bulb on the dock, and then in darkness was able to use a box knife to cut the lifting strap, (damaging it) and releasing the panga. The 40HP outboard was visibly well secured to the panga, and would have required serious tools/effort to remove. The lifted panga was not secured to the dock. A report was made to the police and port captain.||CSSN NOTE: the same night a neighbor's locked 85 HP engine was removed from its panga on a nearby dock. The thief left evidence of using tools to remove the 85 HP, but was unsuccessful in an attempt to also remove a 15HP engine.
