Piracy in the Caribbean is on the rise

In early January, we received the following notice from Daria Blackwell, public relations and digital communications officer for the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC): “Two incidents of piracy have been reported in the closing days of 2015 in the vicinity of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. The Ocean Cruising Club has taken a proactive stance in working with regional authorities to combat this threat to the yachting community. Please join us in alerting cruisers to the situation so that they may take precautionary actions for the sake of safety.”

An OCC release dated Jan. 2, 2016 reads: “OCC Commodore John Franklin has issued an alert to vessels sailing in waters between Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. In the last 10 days, there have been reports of two incidents of piracy against sailing vessels north of Trinidad. Both took place in daylight and involved local (assumed Venezuelan) 18- to 20-foot pirogues with powerful outboard engines (120- to 130-horsepower). Each craft had five or six pirates aboard, several of them armed with assault rifles, and each craft carried a spare powerful outboard and additional fuel in barrels. . . .

“In each case, the sailing vessel was boarded by armed pirates, and the boat ransacked for valuables. Stolen items included cash, passports, boat papers, cell phones, watches, computers, other electronics, and clothing.”
The Caribbean Safety and Security Net (CSSN, www.safetyandsecuritynet.com), provides the following details of the second attack, on Dec. 27: “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 10 a.m., 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 [sic], 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. . . . They took everything they could get: clothes, computer, cell phones, Trinidad flag, clock, etc. Total value about US $4,000.

“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 southwesterly direction towards Venezuela.” The first vessel boarded and robbed by pirates, on Dec. 20, reportedly was an 80-foot sailing yacht that was also sailing near the Hibiscus Gas Platform.

In recent months, in the waters between Venezuela and Trinidad, gunmen killed a fisherman, stole a tugboat, and boarded a Panama-flagged LNG tanker, assaulting the captain and robbing the crew just two and a half miles off Port of Spain, Trinidad.

For those who attended the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) luncheon at the U.S. Naval War College two years ago – on Dec. 14, 2014 in Newport, R.I. – such activity in the islands should not come as a complete surprise. Dr. Andrea J. Dew, co-director of the Center on Irregular Warfare & Armed Groups and an associate professor in the Strategy and Policy Department at the War College, warned the predominantly OCC audience, “I would recommend that this group keep an eye on the Caribbean.”

Dr. Dew said then that she was beginning to see groups exploiting social and economic conditions, such as high state instability, low income levels, and slow or nonexistent economic growth. “They are not organized, but this makes them more difficult to deal with. . . Be aware of the ‘outliers,’ who are the next trend in piracy,” she said back in 2014.

“Fortunately, there were no injuries or loss of life,” the current OCC alert continues. “Reports of each incident, as well as a report of a meeting of the YSATT [Yacht Service Association of Trinidad and Tobago], which contains Coast Guard advice on communications and passage planning can be found on the OCC Forum (www.oceancruisingclub.org). Also, log on to the OCC Caribbean SSB Net [At 0730 (1130 GMT) on 6227 kHz USB, weekdays December until May/June] for updates.”