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Tag: Piracy Archives

2094 – Piracy in Nicaragua – Media Luna Cays

Incident Date: 2016-12-20 at 10:00

Event Type: Piracy

Stolen Items: all extra diesel stored in containers, mobile phones, money, clothes, food, fishing equipement, navigation aids, personal effects, various sailing equipement

Secured: N/A

Source Type: 1st Hand Report

Incident Details: A yacht owner and friend were sailing a 12m monohull from Bocas del Toro, Panama to Belize. Passing 30-40 miles off the shallow coast of Nicaragua, it had been a difficult and tiring trip so they decided to make a rest stop in the uninhabited Media Luna Cays. At 10 AM while underway they were approached at high speed by 2 pangas (longboats with outboards), each with 4 men onboard. They seemed friendly initially and asked for a drink, and were given a few beers. Then suddenly many more boats appeared over the horizon, making thirteen in all, and the intentions of the assembled group became clear. They overwhelmed the yacht, and were raucous and menacing while their visible knives remain sheathed. They attempted to “guide” the boat onto the reef where 2 other wrecked boats were visible. When the yacht veered away they became more aggressive and began to ram into the side of the yacht, causing damage to the hull and port lights. The crew managed to keep sailing as they were boarded by 25-30 men, with another 30 or so men in the remaining pangas. A larger boat with a cabin and radio antenna carried the leader. He boarded and demanded to search the boat for cocaine. The crew negotiated a truce of sorts with the leader and allowed him (only) to search below. Some of the others forced their way below anyway, and along with the many pirates topsides helped themselves to fuel, food, cash, cellphones, fishing gear, clothing, marine electronics and anything they could remove. The crew protested when they took gear necessary to their continued travel and in a few cases it was reluctantly returned by the leader. The leader seemed proud of his control over his assistants and eventually forced them up and off the yacht. He asked for a reward for keeping his word, and pointed to a small Wi-Fi speaker, which he was given. The pirate leader and crew thanked each other and shook hands. The pirates then departed and the crew continued onto Belize, where they made a report to the Cucumber Beach Marina on arrival. They were relieved the pirates had remained nonviolent, after not finding the cocaine that they had apparently expected to commandeer. A courtesy report to the regional British High Commission (consulate) has been made.

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December 20, 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.

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January 15, 2016

1999 – Piracy in Trinidad and Tobago – Trinidad – Hibiscus Gas Platform

Incident Date: 2015-12-27 at 10:30

Event Type: Piracy

Stolen Items: They took everything they could get: clothes, computer, cell phones, trinidad flag, clock, etc. TOTAL Value about $4,000us

Secured: N/A

Source Type: 2nd Hand Report

Incident Details: Boarding and robbery between Trinidad and Grenada of a 32 foot sailing sloop three on board. The vessel had passed close west of Trinidad Hibiscus Gas Platform and was some 30 miles from Trinidad with 40 to go to Grenada.||At about 10am, when about 30 nautical miles from Trinidad, to the north and a little to the west of the Hibiscus Gas Platform, the sloop was approached from the eastern side by a pirogue. It was an unmarked pirogue which looked white (or slightly bluish) on the outside with a grey gunnel with a 130 hp outboard on the stern and a 150 hp outboard laying inside. The pirogue had three blue barrels in it, presumably containing extra fuel. Six persons were on board. They all spoke Spanish and one spoke broken English. Three boarded while the others kept gun barrels under cloth wraps pointed at crew. The people in the pirogue used what appeared to be a rifle but the captain could not say for sure as it was hidden by a piece of cloth. They took everything they could get: clothes, computer, cell phones, Trinidad flag, clock, etc. TOTAL Value about $4,000us They did not harm the occupants or harm the vessel but the pirates threatened to kill the captain if he called for help. The pirates were aboard for about 20 minutes. They remained cool and were not nervous or jumpy.||After the robbery the pirogue headed off in a s.w. Direction, towards Venezuela.||Reported to the TT coastguard and YSATT.

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December 27, 2015

1998 – Piracy in Trinidad and Tobago – Trinidad – Hibiscus Gas Platform

Incident Date: 2015-12-20 at 12:00

Event Type: Piracy

Stolen Items: Money, passports, cell phones, computers, food clothing and ship’s documents, cash, credit cards, wallets, clothes, luggage, watches, books, sailing gear, keys, food, miscellaneous electronics, toiletries, and other items.

Secured: N/A

Source Type: 2nd Hand Report

Incident Details: On December 20 at approximately noon, a 24 meter (80 ft) sailing yacht was sailing from Chaguaramas Trinidad N. to Port Louis Grenada, at about the halfway point In the vicinity of the Hibiscus Gas platform or 30 miles N of Trinidad.

The crew were busy working on the backstay and didn’t notice the boat until it was right on their stern.
VEN Pen
Typical open style fishing boat sometimes used by bandits
It was an 18 ft narrow open boat, white hull with blue inside fishing type boat with 5 young men aboard. The fishing boat had 4 blue barrels that the crew guessed was extra fuel. They had a 120 hp Yamaha outboard engine, and an additional engine laying on the boat’s floor.

We were approached from the south astern by the men speaking Spanish apparently asking for something. Once close to the yacht, one individual pulled out a military type assault rifle and made it clear they were coming aboard. The crew was held at gunpoint the

BG Group Data book 2014 – Where we work – Trinidad & Tobago
Hibiscus Gas Platform location is in upper left of graphis with red circle.
entire time. 2 guys stayed in the boat, 2 went through the boat. 1 with the gun stayed with the captain and 2 yacht crew in the cockpit. The pirates below deck proceeded to put the valuables in bags and luggage found inside the boat, and transport said bags into their dinghy. No shots fired. They were aboard for approximately 15 minutes and took money and electronics. None of the 3 crew were injured. all three pirates on board, jumped back into their dinghy, and started motoring south, from the same direction in which they came. The yacht carried on to Grenada and reported the incident to the US Coast Guards, who reported to Trinidad and Grenada Coast Guards. At some point within the hour of reporting the incident to the USCG, the Trinidad and Tobago coast guard called the satellite phone to review the report that was forwarded to them via the USCG.

CSSN NOTE: CSSN original report was from sources directly in contact with captain and crew and was necessarily classified as second hand. The Captain of the yacht has now confirmed all the facts of this report directly to CSSN. The captain provided additional detail which has been edited into this report. This report is is updated to a first hand, confirmed report with quotes and information also taken from the Captain’s official written report to authorities.

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December 20, 2015

1942 – Piracy in Honduras – Roatan – Punta Sal (Tela)

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.

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March 28, 2015

1928 – Piracy in Honduras – Location – Listed – Honduras

Incident Date: 2015-02-01 at 10:00

Event Type: Piracy

Stolen Items: The robbers took the outboard motor, the computer, the iphone, money, jewelry etc. They were unhurried

Secured: N/A

Source Type: Unknown Hand Report

Incident Details: Yacht was robbed by three armed men in an open launch 15 miles off shore opposite Puerto Cortez, Honduras, while underway Vessels vhf radio was not working. Nobody was physically hurt. Reported to the authorities at Livingston.

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February 1, 2015