A Word About The Pirate Situation ...

 As Jennifer and I have been traveling around southeast Asia and New Zealand, a number of our sailing friends have been struggling with an ever-worsening piracy situation in the northern Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.  Many of you will have heard of the news of the American yacht Quest, whose owners and crew were hijacked and then murdered.  A few days later, a Danish sailboat, Ing, with parents and teens on board was hijacked and is now being held for ransom. Jennifer and I actually crossed path with this boat and family in Manihi, where I nipped the tip of my finger off.  They arrived as we arrived, and one morning we brought them bread from the local bakery.  It's odd how one's emotions are heightened about a tragic event when one has a personal, if passing, connection with the victims.  Our hearts go out to them. 


When Jennifer and I began our journey, we were, of course, aware of the piracy situation, but took a small note of comfort in the fact that fewer and fewer sailboats were being hijacked, as the pirates appeared to be favoring the more lucrative commercial ships.  In fact, until the Quest was hijacked, no sailboats were hijacked in 2010, and until a few months ago, we were feeling pretty good about our chances.  Recently, we have learned that throughout the region's current sailing season -- October-March -- hijackings have been on the rise, and have increased 13-fold compared to the same period last year.

What seems to have happened, however, and we see evidence for this in many of the cruising blogs and bulletin boards, is that the number of pirates has increased significantly, their range has extended well into the Indian Ocean, using mother ships and fast, well-armed smaller boats, and they are increasingly desperate, for want of a better phrase, to earn a return on their investment.    Ironically, the measures adopted by commercial ships to ward off attacks -- including re-routing their ships around the danger zone -- have likely left yachts more vulnerable.  More pirates are chasing fewer ships, and are going further afield to find them.

The extended range of these pirates now threatens sailors well outside the internationally-recognized and policed "transit zone," and even there, sailors face unimaginable fears and anxieties.  Here's an excerpt from an email a few days ago from a yacht transiting the safest part of the Gulf of Aden.  You'll see some excisions to protect the boat and its crew.

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"Unfortunately, we have had 4 incidents along the Corridor in less than 24 hours.

Last night we saw a ship being attacked not 5 miles from our position. Flares going off and then a fast moving boat with a red light headed in our direction - then light went dark. Enough for us to call MARLO who got US Warship to speed in our direction. We had Helo's and an escort the rest of the night. Then today we spotted a dhow with 2 skiffs in the middle of the corridor again 6 miles from our position...and even though they get reported, the resources are too thin to respond in time! And at 12:30 sailing yacht XXXXX (USA) & yacht sailing yacht XXXXX (USA) reported a merchant vessel was being attacked again in the corridor only 38 miles ahead of us. It is NOT good here. It is very very bad. We are ditching plans for [deleted] and going north to [deleted]...Yes, I have the report on gun fire and rioting in the Port of [deleted]..that IS how bad it is here in the Coalition Corridor." Incredibly scary.

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Below is a map of piracy incidents over the last 5 months or so -- in red are the pre-October 2010 attacks; in blue are those since then ... note how the zone of attack is expanding ... and the number of attacks is increasing ...





Jennifer and I are in serious discussions about our next steps; complicating matters is that a journey around the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) is also dangerous -- contrary currents, sudden gales, and monstrous waves, and now, recent reports of epidemics of untreatable mosquito-borne diseases on the islands of Mauritius and Madagascar ... what's a sailor to do?

Here's a summary by one sailor of what boats currently are doing:

"As far as I can determine around 71 crews of private yachts were planning to cross the Indian Ocean and sail towards the Red Sea this month. Of those, most have made alternative arrangements as follows:

• Shipping their yacht from Male, Maldives to Turkey - 15 yachts
• Shipping their yacht from Salalah, Oman to the Med - 21 yachts
• Turned around and headed towards South Africa - 3 yachts
• Turned around and will stay in SE Asia at least another year - 8 yachts
• Currently crossing the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and Red Sea - 22 yachts
• Hijacked at sea - 2 yachts"

We'll keep our loyal readers posted as our thinking progresses ... at this point, we have made no decisions.  Shipping our boat is prohibitively expensive.  For now, please say a prayer for the victims of these hijackings, and for the sailors currently en route through these dangerous waters.