CSSN Annual Report 2016 Reported Yacht Crime – Caribbean

CSSN would like to thank everyone who made reports, and those who offered constructive help and suggestions to help make our service even more useful.

CSSN 2016 Annual Report

More good things happened at CSSN this year. We announced our information sharing partnership with Noonsite, enabling us both to bring our audiences even more timely and complete information. This partnership complements our continuing partnership with the SSCA, and the daily KPK HF broadcast (8104 kHz at 0815 AST).

We welcomed new members to our all-volunteer team and introduced several important new features on the website. It’s now easy to search our archived News and Incident Reports by month. We also added a very popular FAQ, answering your most asked questions. Behind the scenes a variety of performance and security enhancements were made as well.

While total reported incidents were essentially unchanged 2014 to 2015 (74/77), in 2016 we recorded a 17% increase (77/90).

Both violent crimes (assault, piracy, robbery) and nonviolent crimes (burglary, theft, vandalism) showed similar increases. We received our first reports from Cuba (2) and for the first time, no reports from Venezuela – both likely a reflection of changing cruising destinations.

Violent crimes were reported in 6 countries in 2015, but increased to 9 countries in 2016. Violence ranged from restraint to serious injuries (including gunshot wounds) and sexual assault (rape), and death. See 2016 HOTspots Violent Reports

In 2016  only three countries accounted for slightly more than 50% of total incidents, vs. 4 countries in 2015.  During 2016 Grenada had 24 reports, St. Lucia 12 and SVG 12. All other countries had 5 or less, with most having only 1 or 2. To review incidents by country for 2016 click here. For 2015 here.

Grenada – Grenada reported not only the largest absolute number of incidents in 2016 but the largest overall increase (+500%). This was driven by a significant increase in the number of thefts/burglaries that occurred in the south coast anchorages. Grenada reported 2 assaults in 2016, up from none in either of the 2 previous years.

St. Lucia – total incidents in St. Lucia increased 33% from 9 to 12 in 2016. Violent incidents (1) were flat, the increase was driven by nonviolent incidents, which not only increased but were more broadly dispersed.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) – The total number of incidents reported in SVG declined in 2016, however, the mix of violent and nonviolent incidents was greatly changed in 2016. Violent crimes increased +500%, and included the region’s only death, and were reported from a variety of locations throughout the SVG island group. SVG violent incidents represent 33% of ALL violent incidents against yachts reported to CSSN for the entire region . Nonviolent reports in SVG actually declined, largely attributable to fewer reports from Canouan, which had the highest number of reports in the region in the prior year (2015).

CSSN First Hand Report
CSSN First Hand Report

First hand reports continued to dominate in 2016, bringing the most complete and best quality information to our community. We all depend on each other to self-report, and there is more to do. Please, help everyone by getting the word out. We have worked hard to make reporting accessible and easy.

CSSN Incident Report Icon-150x150

If you are a victim, complete the simple online incident report, or contact KPK during the daily HF broadcast (SSB 8104 kHz at 12:15 UTC). If you hear about an incident, encourage the victims to make a direct first person report to CSSN. Or, make a report yourself (we will work closely with you to get all the facts available). CSSN’s site and data are tools for the cruising community, and we all share responsibility to use them wisely for our mutual safety and security.

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We always welcome your feedback and suggestions, simply click the “CONTACT US” link on any page of the website.

Safe Cruising,

Kim White

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