CSSN News – September 18, 2023 – Incident 3094 Attempted Piracy, offshore Dominican Republic has been removed

CSSN has removed incident 3094 from our site and data archives. We have learned that the incident was reported accurately to us, and by us, but is of quite a different nature than originally thought.

Prompted by the CSSN ALERT! Peter Swanson of Loose Cannon investigated further and summarized the situation here. The Dominican Republic Navy was conducting a planned drug interdiction and mistakenly thought the wholly innocent “victim” sportfishing vessel was their target when they chased and fired upon it. Both the USCG who, when contacted, provided safe escort and the DR Navy claim they are conducting full investigations of the matter. The results have not yet been made available to the victim or CSSN.

CSSN has elected to withdraw this report as it is not a bonafide act of intended piracy. Hopefully robust protocols and training will be put in place by the DR Navy to ensure safe passage for all innocent transiting vessels.