Flotilla: Red Sea to Seychelles

[Skipper David]

speak to your insures

[Alondra]

They have not been there, and.... did'nt give me any advice. They just insured me, against a reasonable rate. As they should.
(it is quite obvious that they follow the corridor as that is the international dedicated shipping lane but, it is NOT the best route for yachts. First the shipping lane takes the depths of cargo ships in consideration as well as the normal traffic shemes in this aria. I cannot spell it out enough, and the charts are very clear. Stay close to the coast but hey... anyone who doesn't. It's your call. Not mine)

[Skipper David]

each skipper takes the decision on what way to go.
I spoke to 5 different yacht skippers in salalah befor departure and they all gave the same information as the route they took.the channel.thats when i took my decision.
you took the decision on your route.The only encounter i had was neary 600 miles of shore in the indian ocean.We both took a decision and we were bothh correct as our yacht and crew arrived at there destination safely.
I spoke to one owner the other day whos insurance company has stipulated that he cannot stop between eritrayer and oman.

[Monty J]

I crewed for Skipper David delivering a Lagoon 500 from Seychelles to Egypt via pirate alley. We had a very detailed email from a commander in the British Navy. In it were many reports of piracy committed close to the Yemen coast, often by boats posing as Yemen fisherman. There is no way I would crew for someone who wanted to hug that coast, or any other in that area. The very best route is .5 to 1nm off the safety corridor favoring the Yemen side. That way you are out of the way considering high speed heavy tonnage commercial traffic, but still close enough for the military to help should you be targeted. It would be a cold day in hell before I trusted the Yemen coast guard or police for my safety. Each to their own but I was very relieved to hear nato forces on the radio every day, and even the heavy ships. They often kept an eye on us, and that was very reassuring in such a stressful environment. Nato is stepping up efforts in the safety corridor to protect the ships that use it, and kudos to the Russians and the French forces who are not shy about dealing with pirates using deadly force. Recently commandos from the frigate HMS Cumberland saw action after pirates fired on their high speed attack boat while they were responding to a distress call. The commandos opened fire killing pirates, and after boarding the pirates vessel the remainding pirates surrendered quietly. Kudos to the crew of HMS Cumberland as well. Hopefully other members of Nato get with the program and start sinking more pirate vessels. Kill em all, let God sort them out.

[lyralicious]

We are planning to be in Egypt for winter 2009, after which we'll be heading slowly down the Red Sea in January, taking in the coasts of Sudan and Eritrea on the way. According to my investigations, which have been on-going for the past three years, the area has changed very rapidly in the last 12 months and is changing all the time. A BBC radio bulletin had an interview with a naval spokesman who was very positive about what they have already achieved and what they expect to achieve.

We received this earlier in the week from a great contact in a security company, whose job is specifically to advise on passage through this area of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean:

I have spent quite a lot of time in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden/Indian Ocean recently, helping captains and crews to prepare their ships, making them aware of the threat, training them how to react in emergency situations and what to do if, God forbid, they are hijacked. I also train and deploy the 3 or 4-man security teams that escort the ships through the badlands.

There have already been 3 ships taken this year, with another one missing presumed captured. Despite this, there is a sense that the naval forces in the area (19 navies now contributing) are starting to get their act together; they are reacting more quickly, communicating better with the merchant ships, and are being more aggressive in their response. The MSPA safety corridor through the GoA has now been moved further south, away from the Yemeni coast, and this makes it more difficult for the pirates to mingle with the yemeni fishing fleets before attacking ships.

If you are heading south, you are pretty safe through almost all of the Red Sea until you get near the bottom (Hanish Island and below). The Bab-el-Mandeb is a natural choke point so I always try to go through there at night (all pirate attacks bar one have been in daylight). Once into the GoA, the EU Naval Task Force (EUNAVFOR) operates and patrols a TSS until you have cleared the Yemeni coast and reached Oman. Vulnerable craft (low, slow or particularly attractive) can register with the warships and lodge their passage plan with them. If you are heading south from there, the advice is to give the island of Socotra a very wide berth and then keep as far off the Somali coast as wind and currents allow. (Remember the Sirius Star was captured 500 miles off the coast).

We're also friendly with Dave, who posted his account of going through the danger area last year on noonsite. He's a measured and solid character.

I can think of only two reasons why we would not be heading east now: health and money.

I'll be watching this post with interest and will be more than happy to meet up with fellow yotties in Egypt. We'll be staying in Abu Tig marina from November through till beginning January.

[Hud3]

Thanks for the very informative post, Liz. And welcome to the Forum. Glad you have you here!