The Full 2009 Annual Piracy Report

[Laidback]

With Permission the Full 2009 Annual Piracy Report is Attached as a 103 page .pdf document - some analysis relative to cruising yachts
would be welcomed.

[Laidback]

Unfortunately could not upload the .pdf document -- awaiting solution from the administrator.

[idpnd]

Is it not published online so you can link to it?

[Laidback]

Hi,
It may be on line - but this one is sent to me privately - normally one cannot publish without permission (which I have)

[IslandHopper]

If anyone wants one all you need do is log on to ICC Commercial Crime Services and request the report, it's freely available, if you don't want them to email the report, all the contents of the report (plus older ones) are able to be viewed on the web site ...

They say it will take a couple of days but i received mine in less than 12 hours...

Like you say it is in pdf format...

[Laidback]

You are quite correct - however the process I was using came to a halt with the admonition that there was a security issue that needed addressing - I was instructed to complete a questionnaire and await a reply from the Administrator.
(Guess I clogged the works!)

[Laidback]

Is this type of attack a precursor to what may develop in Indonesian waters

"03.01.2010: 0900 LT: Posn: 01:39.4N – 132:45.3E, Indonesia.
More than 10 pirates in three big boats chased and attempted to board a general cargo ship underway. Anti piracy measures taken by the ship and evasive manoeuvres carried out. After 20 minutes the pirates aborted the attempt and moved away. No casualties and no injuries to crew.

[dpex]

These come in many categories, but mostly they're sad-arsed souls looking for a quick hit; unless you happen to be aboard a 200,000 tonne tanker.

Pirates are opportunists, and like all opportunists, mostly take the easy route. And so if you look easy they will have a go at you.

Defence. Firstly, guns. I doesn't take a greatly strategic brain to hide a gun/guns on a vessel which you simply fail to mention when arriving in port.

Even paranoid US customs are not going to start wrenching off sundry panels in search of guns.

So let's look at guns. The best option is a cut-down shotgun with lots of double aught and duck-shot at the ready. The duck-shot is the first notice...ergo, come any closer and I'll get pissed off with you. The double aught is used when you have to get serious. From a cut down barrel this **** goes every which way but will give any human body within 100M a cause to pause and consider the rectitude of further engagement.

Mind you. I guess it all comes down to the quality of your boat.

If you just happen to have a flash Benetau, for a million dollar cat, then the chances are the hard-triers might have a go. But if you're on a very basic boat then your assailants are likely to be less than the committed type.

And so, at sea, some set of morons hove into view on some clapped-out vessel. You let them get close enough to see the shotgun, and if that's not enough you let off a few rounds.

But the bigger prob is when you're at anchor in some fine port and the hopefuls have espyed a potential victim.

They think they can come alongside, leap aboard, do their dastardly deeds then run.

Here's a simple solution for that.

A good old Kiwi electric fence. These things have stopped bulls from bulling for as long as the Kiwi electric fence was invented.

You simply string the tapes on all your external rails, press start, and suddenly your entire rail-fence becomes a serious barrier to those with ill-intent.

Imagine. Hagar the Horrible has been appointed by Captain Dimwit to baord you, while you rest at anchor in the Antibes.

Hagar reaches up and clutches your rail and about 10,000VDC of electric fence. Hagar does a greater leap backward than Mao's lot, and suddenly they all lose interest.

A simple Kiwi electric fence is way better than Joshua Slocums pins on the deck.

Personally, I utterly hate the idea of arseholes intruding and so I have devised a range of strategies to fend them off. The latest of which is one of those really cheap, electrically power helicopter toys. They cost about $150 inc controls, and have a control range of about 1,000M.

I bought one. Found it could carry a small phial of white spirits (about 5FlO) and a Pezzo ignitor. I fitted the Pezzo with a simple impact switch. Thus when the helicopter hit something...like a pirate vessel for example... the Pezzo lit the white spirits and poom! Believe me, 5FLO of white spirits ignites, its like the fourth of July.

So now I have two of these stacked away on the just in case basis. But should I ever again get into pirate range, the first and second defences will be my little helicopters which I can control up to 1,000M. If that doesn't dissuade the hard-triers, then out will come the shot gun.

My attitude being....I am peaceful with anyone who respects my space, and a God-awful enemy when one doesn't.

[Geminidawn]

Originally Posted by dpex

Firstly, guns. I doesn't take a greatly strategic brain to hide a gun/guns on a vessel which you simply fail to mention when arriving in port.

Even paranoid US customs are not going to start wrenching off sundry panels in search of guns.

I pretty much thought the same thing until I posted a thread in the sailing section of boards.ie and this is one of the responses I got.


"The question of whether to carry a gun on board a yacht for protection has been answered for one American citizen, when he was released from a Mexican jail after more than four months in custody.

John Peerson, captain of the $4 million private yacht 'Reel Screamer,' was released from jail Wednesday and flew back to the United States from Cancun.

'We just want him back to normal and to realize that he's safe and nothing's going to happen to him,' said Peerson's mother, Dian Pritchard. 'It was all just a bizarre thing from beginning to end.'

Peerson, 48, of DeFuniak Springs, was arrested Jan. 20 during a stop in the Port of Isla Mujeres, off the Yucatan Peninsula, where Mexican authorities boarded the yacht and seized a pistol, a rifle, a shotgun and ammunition.

The former Destin boat captain was en route from Costa Rica to Miami and had stopped for fuel at the Colombian island of San Andres. By the time he reached Mexico's Isla Mujeres, the weather was threatening.

When Peerson stopped to wait out the storm, Mexican authorities asked him to move the yacht to a military docking station for a drug search.

Peerson insisted they search the yacht where it was rather than risk damage in transit. He was arrested on the weapons charges soon after that.

He spent 127 days in jail and in court arguing his case.

The guns belonged to yacht owner Wayne Rickert and were aboard for protection against pirates, terrorists and even drug users looking to party, Peerson's family said. Peerson insisted he had declared the guns beforehand.

The language barrier in court only made his case tougher to prove, Pritchard said. An attorney eventually cleared it up.

'It's been such a roller coaster. All during this whole ordeal, they've told us one thing and that never happened, so we've just been up and down and up and down,' she said. 'I'm sure those days must have felt like years to him.'

The yacht has not been released.

Peerson was spending his first few days home 'just trying to decompress,' Prichard said, but may talk about his trials later.

'He's back and I have one word, and that's ‘hallelujah,' ' she said. 'And don't go to Mexico.'

by nfw Daily News/Sail-World 1:20 AM Mon 1 Jun 2009