2015 DETAIL Assault and Piracy

DATE: 2015-01-21
Country Name: Haiti
Location Detail: Corail
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: All Cash ($1000 US), laptops, diving equipment, etc.
SECURED: Locked
DETAILS: A French couple and their children had anchored overnight between Corail and Pestel, Haiti. At 3 AM they were boarded by 12 men armed with machine guns and machetes. The leader of the group was in uniform. The boat was “inspected” for 2.5 hours, rummaging drawers, lockers, etc. The roller furling and main sheet were deliberately damaged. The men were agressive, with much yelling and arm waving, but the crew cooperated. They forced the boat to go 2 miles back to Corial at first light after taking all the cash on board ($1000), laptops and some other gear from the captain . The official then “allowed” the boat to depart to go onward to Pestel, Haiti the next planned stop. It is unlikely a police report was made. CSSN became aware of this incident of piracy/assault while confirming details of the next incident of piracy/assault, (also in Haiti), dated 16 April 2015

DATE: 2015-04-16
Country Name: Haiti
Location Detail: Petit Port a Piment
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: Dinghy, life raft, solar panels, computers, binoculars, electronics, etc.
SECURED: Locked
DETAILS: An Australian couple aboard their sailboat en route from Cuba to Ile a Vache Haiti anchored overnight near Petit Port a Piment , Haiti . At approximately 11 PM it was boarded by 10-15 men armed with clubs, sticks and machetes. They cooperated with the attackers and offered everything, but they were violently assaulted. The captain was beaten badly, resulting in broken bones and machete wounds. His wife sustained significant injuries also. The steering compass was intentionally damaged/disabled. The next day local police arrived and both were taken to a local hospital where they received treatment, and the husband confined for several days. Various officials provided assistance and the damaged boat was taken by a delivery captain to Ile a Vache, Haiti. The captain and his wife returned to Australia where their injuries were re-assessed, and they received additional medical care.

DATE: 2015-05-11
Country Name: Haiti
Location Detail: Petit Paradise
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: Cash, bank cards, cellphone, laptop and hard-drives, knives, 2 jerry jugs of gasoline
SECURED: Not Locked
DETAILS: An experienced and well traveled female single hander was anchored offshore Petit Paradise for about a week, and had been befriended by the locals. On May 11, she had just gone to sleep at around 9PM when she was boarded, viciously attacked, and robbed by 3 armed men who tied her up, beat her, and finally left when they became nervous about being discovered. She later made her way to the village, sought and received assistance and was treated at the medical clinic. Reports were made to the local police, French Embassy, Belgian Consul, and local judge. She has shared a detailed description of the event and it is published on the Noonsite Piracy pages, and can be viewed here http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Haiti/haiti-grand-goave-petit-paradis-night-time-robbery-and-violent-attack-2013-may-2015 CSSN NOTE : This is the THIRD violent assault against a cruiser reported from Haiti this year. The other reports can be viewed herehttps://wp.me/p3QFio-Da and herehttps://wp.me/p3QFio-CD and here https://wp.me/p3QFio-CE.

DATE: 2015-09-20
Country Name: Colombia
Location Detail: Rosarios Islands
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: cash
SECURED: Unknown
DETAILS: Alerted by cruisers in Santa Marta, CSSN reviewed several local news articles that report a Dutch flagged vessel anchored in the Rosarios Islands summoned authorities by calling the police emergency hotline after being boarded and attacked by 6 armed men. The wife was mortally beaten, the husband was also injured and later treated. The Dutch embassy is providing assistance and police officials have offered a reward.

DATE: 2015-11-20
Country Name: Colombia
Location Detail: Santa Marta Tagana Bay
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: Robbers grabbed everything they could see of value including all jewellery, tanzanite, pearls, 2 diamond rings, including a Cullinan diamond. Also stolen were outboard motors (both gone), watches, phones, computers, cash, credit cards, fishing rods etc. Fortunately they did not take passports & boat papers, nor did they rip out main navigation equipment (other than hand held vhfs & binoculars) nor ropes.
SECURED: Locked
DETAILS: We were boarded by armed PROFESSIONAL THIEVES & robbed in Taganga Bay, near Santa Marta, Colombia. The incident took place at around 2.30am and reads almost identical to this one, reported on noonsite in 2012, down to them being high on drugs: There were 5 men, who arrived in a dugout canoe. 4 boarded, at least 2 had guns & 1 had a knife, that we saw. We were both tied up & hit by 4 thieves, at least 2 of the 4 on board had guns & one had a small knife at my husbands throat. The dogs did not bark. We did have a plan of action if this kind of thing happened, unfortunately, my husband heard something hit the side of the boat & woke up. Instead of turning on the cockpit lights, he unlocked the door & went out to look. We had agreed that we would turn lights on & make noise. If we were locked inside the boat, at least we would have time to make radio & phone calls, but he was sleepy, not thinking straight & went straight out to 4 guys with guns & knives. I had actually hidden away our tablet, which has a good navigation program & they missed taking the dongle from the computer which had a local sim with airtime, so I was able to get a call out to our agent Dino who raised the alarm with police & coastguard.I could not get anyone on channel 16 or channel 72 for 1/2 hour and it was at least an hour before the coastguard came. We had spoken with other people who advised us to go into the marina. We made an informed decision with an unfortunate outcome. Always read noonsite, Caribbean safety & security network, Facebook cruising group reports prior to going anywhere. Our incident was almost identical to the one reported on noonsite in 2012. I wonder if it was the same ‘gang’? The police didn’t even come on board to check the 100 ‘ s of fingerprints, so the follow up comments from that report that the authorities are taking such incidents seriously is suspect! We really hope that local stakeholders in this area can provide an organised safe haven for cruisers, perhaps something similar to PAYS in Dominica. We truly hope this never happens again in this bay. Reported to Police, Coast Guard and Marina.

DATE: 2015-03-15
Country Name: Dominica
Location Detail: Anchorage Hotel
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: None
SECURED: N/A
DETAILS: While on a previously paid for mooring in front of the Anchorage hotel, a yacht was approached by a small local boat whose occupant threatened them with a spear gun and then attempted to use a machete to cut their line. The yacht left the mooring . Reports were made to the police and Coast Guard. CSSN UPDATE: 2015-04-14 : Our original posting failed to include that the Coast Guard responded very quickly, within about 10 minutes, to this threatening situation. We later learned that the yacht subsequently returned to the mooring, and that business interests in the area conducted a meeting with local boatmen to convey the seriousness of this type of behavior and to (hopefully) prevent any future occurrences.

DATE: 2015-03-31
Country Name: Dominica
Location Detail: Prince Rupert Bay South End
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: Laptop, mobile phone, VHF, cash
SECURED: Locked
DETAILS: A single hander anchored in the south end of Prince Rupert Bay was awakened at 1:00 AM by noise on deck.Somewhat disoriented, he unlocked and went up to the cockpit where he encountered 2 men, one with a gun. The thieves stole his laptop, phone, VHF, cash and demanded his credit card and PIN. He informed them he did not have a credit card and the they left. The next day he informed other boats anchored nearby and made a report to the police. CSSN NOTE: PAYS operates a nighttime security patrol in the NORTH end of Prince Rupert Bay, and a radio call from the locked cabin may have prevented this incident.

DATE: 2015-03-07
Country Name: Venezuela- Mainland And Nearshore Islands
Location Detail: Morrocoy
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: 3 occupied weekend motorboats were boarded around 10AM Saturday morning by thieves armed with guns , those on-board were sequestered in cabins, the boats were then ransacked and pillaged. The criminals then stole 1 of the 3 boats to depart.
SECURED: N/A
DETAILS: Three families in weekend motor yachts were boarded about 10 AM by men armed with guns near Cayo Sur, which is located between Puerto Cabello and Chichiriviche in Morrocoy National Park. The 3 boats/occupants were taken to a remote location, the vessel occupants locked below in cabins and the boats ransacked/pillaged . At 4 PM when the criminals were done, they took one of the 3 boats and departed. From Noonsite piracy reports 2015 – http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Venezuela/venezuela-morrocoy-national-park-three-local-motorboats-held-hostage-and-ransacked-march-2015

DATE: 2015-05-24
Country Name: Venezuela- Mainland And Nearshore Islands
Location Detail: Orinoco Delta Manamo River
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: silver coins and other items
SECURED: Not Locked
DETAILS: While the Manamo River/Orinoco Basin are not in the strictest sense part of the Caribbean, cruisers from Trinidad/Tobago have often chosen to explore this remote area. CSSN has received a first hand report from a single hander who was boarded, restrained and held at gunpoint while his boat was ransacked on the night of 24 May 2015. Six men boarded from a (stolen) engine-less boat, ransacked the yacht and stole valuable silver coins and other items. The captain did not resist, he was tied up, his head covered with a shirt, but left unharmed. He later reported the incident to the Guardia, who showed little interest and did not follow up. For additional details see a summary report posted in Noonsite here http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Venezuela/venezulea-manamo-orinoco-assault-robbery

DATE: 2015-05-22
Country Name: SVG
Location Detail: St. Vincent Chateaubelair
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: Wallets, passports, outboard engine
SECURED: Unknown
DETAILS: A chartered catamaran anchored by itself in the northern part of Chateaubelair, well away from the 2 or 3 other cruising boats anchored in the bay was boarded at night by swimmers and the crew “roughed up” and robbed of their wallets and passports. The criminals took the dinghy to make their escape, and abandonded it ashore after removing the outboard engine. A police report was made. CSSN NOTE: Times and date are approximate due to the third-hand nature of this report.

DATE: 2015-05-20
Country Name: St. Lucia
Location Detail: Rodney Bay Reduit Beach
EVENT: Assault
Stolen Items: knife
SECURED: Not Locked
DETAILS: In an apparent attempt to rob the vessel, a swimmer tripped over and woke the skipper who was sleeping in the cockpit of a boat anchored near shore at Reduit Beach. The robber proceeded to attack the skipper with a knife; the skipper received 20 stab wounds, 17 of which required stitches, before the skipper was able to throw the attacker overboard. A second person onboard was awakened by the activity and assisted in summoning help and transporting the vicitm to police who were waiting ashore and then transported the victim to the local hospital for treatment Skipper was hospitalized for 6 days and is recovering in St Lucia. A police report was made, but no arrests have followed.

DATE: 2015-10-12
Country Name: Nicaragua
Location Detail: Disputed waters
EVENT: Attempted Piracy
Stolen Items:
SECURED: N/A
DETAILS: Attempted boarding by 4 men in a skiff. Before they got close enough to jump on board we displayed weapons and they backed off. They followed us for about 15 minutes until we called a pan pan distress call. Reported to Police, Coast Guard, Port Captain, Local VHF Net.

DATE: 2015-02-01
Country Name: Honduras
Location Detail: Underway from Bay Islands to the Rio Dulce
EVENT: Piracy
Stolen Items: The robbers took the outboard motor, the computer, the iphone, money, jewelry etc. They were unhurried
SECURED: N/A
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.

DATE: 2015-03-28
Country Name: Honduras
Location Detail: Punta Sal (Tela)
EVENT: Piracy
Stolen Items: Money, Camera, Ipod Mp3, Gasoline, VHF, GPS, various random items they could find
SECURED: Not Locked
DETAILS: Whilst underway close to Punta Sal we noticed a small fishing boat following us from the west. They approached and asked for gasoline. Suddenly 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 facility. 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.

DATE: 2015-12-19
Country Name: Grenada-Trinidad passage
Location Detail: Trinidad Hibiscus Gas Platform
EVENT: Piracy
Stolen Items: Money, passports, cell phones, computers, GPS
SECURED: N/A
DETAILS: On December 19 at approximately noon, a 75ft sailing yacht was sailing from Chaguaramas Trinidad N. In the vicinity of the Hibiscus Gas platform or 40 to 50 mile N of Trinidad, the boat was approached by a white with blue trim fishing type boat with 5 young men aboard. The fishing boat had 3 or 4 barrels that the crew guessed was extra fuel. They came up from astern 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 entire time. 2 guys stayed in the boat, 2 went through the boat. 1 with the gun stayed with the 3 Yacht crew in the cockpit. No shots fired. Yacht crew wondered if they even had ammo. They were aboard for approximately 15 minutes and took money and electronics. None of the 3 crew were injured. The yacht carried on to Grenada and reported the incident to the Trinidad and US Coast Guards. CSSN NOTE: After some clarification CSSN learned the original report to CSSN was made on behalf of the Captain and Crew by a source in direct contact with them.Therefore, we must classify this as a second hand report. CSSN may receive a few more details forn the victims once they sort out lost passports and communication devices, etc.. CSSN will update this post as new information is available. For Previous incidents in the Trinidad/Granada Passage see: https://safetyandsecuritynet.org/the-southern-windward-islands-st-vincent-the-grenadines-grenada-including-carriacou-petite-martinique-trinidad-tobago/

DATE: 2015-12-27
Country Name: Grenada-Trinidad passage
Location Detail: Trinidad Hibiscus Gas Platform
EVENT: 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
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.