Tag: Honduras Archives

Incident Date: 2017-01-13 at 17:30

Event Type: Piracy

Stolen Items: Hand held electronics, wall mounted TV, RIB dinghy and outboard, cash, alcohol, dive gear, passports

Secured: Not Locked

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: A US flagged sailing yacht with the owner/captain and 1 Canadian crew member onboard departed Puerto Cortez for Roatan. After 10 hours of sailing in strong easterlies and current they had made 13 miles of easting and were 5 miles off the coast.

At sunset they were approached and boarded from the west by a panga with 8 men onboard, with weapons drawn. The two pirates armed with semiautomatic guns immediately took control of the captain, who quickly made it clear he would comply with their wishes. Two men remained in the panga, while the 4 remaining pirates began pilfering the boat, roughing up the female crew member as she retrieved the demanded cash. During the 15 minutes they were ransacking the yacht the pirates took hand held electronics, a wall mounted TV, cash, alcohol, dive gear, and passports, as well as the RIB dinghy/outboard which was launched off the deck. The pirates departed to retrieve the dinghy and the yacht continued onward to Roatan. The captain believes his compliant and non-threatening posture prevented injury or worse.

After a difficult night with limited navigation and communications capability their radio call was answered by a US Navy surveillance airplane, that then overflew them and arranged for continued airborne escort to Roatan. The US Navy had arranged a warm welcome and official reports were made to the police, port captain and Honduran coast guard. The supporting consulates provided additional assistance with communications and passport replacement.

Incident Date: 2015-03-28 at 17:00

Event Type: Piracy

Stolen Items: Money, Camera, Ipod Mp3, Gasoline, VHF, GPS, various random items they could find

Secured: Not Locked

Source Type: Unknown Hand Report

Incident Details: Whilst underway close to Punta Sal we noticed a small fishing boat following us from the west. They approached and asked for gasoline. Sudddenly 3 of the 4 men boarded our sailing vessel with guns and demanded money. We were threatened with guns to our heads and a knife to my wife’s throat. We cooperated with the pirates and gave them what they wanted. The pirates cut the main halyard, cut the gps cables, stole the VHF radio and other electronics, threw our fresh water supplies over board and put the engine in full throttle. They grounded the sailboat into the secluded bay “Escondido” inside the Jeanette Kava National Park. 4 days later we were rescued after SOS signs we made in the ground at the park’s entrance were seen by visitors who arrived by boat to another area of the park. No one was harmed, but it was a frightening experience. The boat was damaged and was still aground several days after we were rescued while local officials worked with the captain to make temporary repairs and remove the yacht to a repair facitlity. CSSN NOTE: When local and federal Honduran officials learned of this incident, they provided not only assistance to the captain, but also hotel accommodations, support and return air travel to the temporary crew/victims.