Piracy In Gulf of Aden

[Neptune Parts]

And a few more to give understanding to why someone would risk pirates and rebels to visit the Red Sea....

[Neptune Parts]

You will notice that there are no tourists in any photos...fear of ISIS provided for a private showing of all Egypt.

[salticrak]

Shukraan habebe,mish feloos.

[Neptune Parts]

And a few more...

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by makobuilders

Simple yet good advise. So, to make this thread useful (and keep our moderator cool), let's expand on this:

Seems to me that there are some major hotspots for piracy:
1) NW Indian Ocean / Gulf of Aden
2) Gulf of Guinea
3) Southern Philippines / eastern South China Sea

Also some "minor" areas:
4) Indonesian side of Strait of Malacca
5) Areas of southern Caribbean and South America

What areas of #5 above, or additional areas, would you classify as risky?

Which areas? For us, all of the above. Yet it tends to blur and meld, and grow somewhat, from year to year.

The Hiscocks lived in a wonderful era for sailing, yet the '50s are long gone and its not going to get better anytime soon, if ever. Rejoice about the birth of the Internet and cell phones, the rise of social media, and the diminishing safe cruising grounds. It's a shame.

[weavis]

I always found the light in the middle east and Africa of amazing quality for photographs....

[Exile]

Originally Posted by weavis

I always found the light in the middle east and Africa of amazing quality for photographs....

And nice seeing photos of the area in a "positive light" for a change.

[Bulawayo]

Originally Posted by Neptune Parts

I just took a look at my travel log, and we were heading North through the Bab Al Mandeb on the 15th and for a solid 10 days afterwards, there was absolutely no way anyone was heading South and we didn't see you or hear about you going North.

Eritrea is absolutely not the place to stop and every one knows this. We met a Russian in Port Ghalid that had been held in jail there without reason for 30 days.

Gjibouti has excellent provisioning from a newly built store with all the international brands.

There isn't much option but to sail past Hannish island as all the surrounding waters are reef laden and the shipping channel splits around the island group. When the winds are blowing and the seas are square, you don't want to be anywhere near Eritrea. Hell, you don't want to be near Eritrea on a good day. And Saudi Arabia will jail you for being in their waters.


You have Saudi navy on your starboard and Eritrea on your port. You have little or no options when winds and seas go verticle, which they do once every couple days through the Bab Al Mandeb vortex. Since most sailors want to pass through the Bab under cover of night, you arrive at Hannish at sunrise just as the morning winds off the desert begin to peak from 30 to over 50 knots sustained and the shallow waters square off at over 25 ft.

The reason there are so many reports of boats being fired upon is for this very reason. The Yemenis seem to take great pleasure is targeting vessels trying to find cover from the extreme winds and seas.

Picture 1) is of Saudi Arabian Navy helicopter with 50cal gunner in door letting us know we are too close to their shores...50 miles out!
Picture 2) Sunset on the Bab Al Mandeb Feb 15th
Picture 3) Main Street Saukin Sudan.
Picture 4) Diving on the wreck of the Umbria in Sudan.

Thank you for your points. 15th Feb? Then we were were ahead of you. Looking at our video (log is on the boat) we left Hurghada on 08th Feb. We have regularly stopped at Massawa and have never experienced any issues in Eritrea. Yes, we do have the pictures and the visa's as well. In fact, you'll find a couple of Italian dive boats based out of there. We have also stopped in Saudia and received super polite treatment! There has never been the slightest threat of being arrested either. Perhaps because we are polite we recieve reasonable treatment. They do not welcome you with open arms nor do they let you leave the boat, but they will assist you with obtaining provisions whilst you carry out necessary repairs and will even send in a mechanic if you really need. There does seem to be some unnecessary posturing and incorrect information being touted around.

[50ftmoneypit]

Nope...

[Neptune Parts]

And a few more...

The Soma Bay resort we pulled into was built for thousands of guests. I believe there were a dozen and we were the only boat in the marina and given full access to the resort for 10USD/night. Awesome.

[four winds]

Great pictures, NP. Thanks for posting them.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I have a friend with a sistership to mine. He encountered what may or may not have been pirates. Here are two of the emails he wrote. I will not mention his name here...

#1
Am in Malaysia, Sebana Golf and Marina Resort.
http://www.sebanacoveresort.com/home.aspx

Was rammed by a pirate boat out in the South China Sea, 1000 miles after East Timor. Mast down, no radio reception. Motored to Indonesia under cover as no visa, refueled and got here.
All is fine, just need a sleeve to put in 10 feet down the mast. All is taking a bit of time. New solar tower, panels, cockpit windows, bent stanchions, pulpit, etc.
Marina is cheap but good, so enjoy the jet set life.
Any other boat would have sunk, Princess Del Mar is a tank.
Take care

#2
Thanks for the reply. I am in Puket, Thailand and leaving Saturday for
Sri Lanka.
I was ran down by a unmarked fishing vessel, no flag no name no
identification and I could not understand their language nor did they
speak english.
I learned later that some Indonesian fisherman shake off bad spirits
by sailing close by another vessel. I guess it was a bit more close
then what they or I expected.

This is what happens, people mis interpret things. I've sailed Asia extensively, there are 1000's of unmarked, unlit fishing boats. Often these fisherman have their faces covered from the sun. Realistically the only potential threat is south Mindanao. I used this eg before, I was in Samal just prior to kidnapping, which is the only incident of it's kind there in 12 years. I've just spent 5 months in Bali where there was approx 430 motorcycle/scooter deaths in the first 4 months of this year! But a majority of tourists hire a scooter fit $8/day.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[mako]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

We have also been approached by high speed skiffs in the Gulf of Aden, sometimes with hooded crew. What appeared to be guns were actually telescopic fishing rods. They were hooded against the sun. They approached us wanting to sell fish.

Was reading your old post Bulawayo. I live and boat in the Persian Gulf and your description is quite common especially when I am in the quieter areas away from the port, especially when walking the sandbars or islands. However I usually ignore and walk away from their approaches, but that's because my daughters will be playing in their shorts or bathing suits and there is often perverted behavior displayed. Never by the Arabs though because of the respect for a man's family/women, but by Asian fisherman.

[weavis]

Neptune parts and 50ftmoneypit will not be continuing with us on this thread (or any other) so feel free to comment without fear of reprisal. Best always to have one persona ONLY on CF.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by weavis

Neptune parts and 50ftmoneypit will not be continuing with us on this thread (or any other) so feel free to comment without fear of reprisal. Best always to have one persona ONLY on CF.

That's a shame I enjoyed seeing those photos