Pirate attack Phillipines ?

[Saltynips]

This is very sad news.

It's hard to believe such places don't have an attack plan in place.

I believe every Marina in a hostile place should have sirens that can be activated from the docks, marina and every boat. If loud enough this would be a good deterrent and let others know to begin with emergency plan.

As soon as the alarm is tripped there can be a plan in place for everyone who is on board to bunker down and be armed with lethal and non lethal weapons (tazers, pepper spray, flash bangs, tranquillizers etc) Even if not shooting to kill if everyone started even firing a gun into the water it would let the attackers know they are out gunned. One more deterrent to back off.

Marinas can be re designed for quick getaways for tourists along with heavier surveillance.

For anyone who is not on board during an attack there can be safe rooms hidden on the property which can allow people to hide in.

Anyone who is on the docks should be able to jump off and hide underneath. If this could all be co-ordinated in seconds of hearing an alarm leaving only the attackers standing then a couple trained marksmen can open fire from a safe vantage point.!

[alansmith]

Well done Pelagic

[alansmith]

Salty, some of your advice like sirens is very good advice. If I heard it me and the misses would be in the water slithering away.

The advice of trying to outgun paramilitary type commandos would result in loss of life. If you have a commando squad of say 6 men with full automatic AKs... and you have a shotgun, or 45 pistol and start shooting at them or even into the air... you will get hosed down and die of lead poisoning... or unfortunate sailors near you. Try to remember these jungle men are usually young, nervous, and trigger happy. If you shoot into the air they will not know where that bullet was aimed at. Even a pistol shot at 100 yrd would take near expert caliber to hit center mass. They may or may not see the muzzle flash. But their ears will detect whatever quadrant you mistakenly revealed your position to be. All 6 men will spray automatic weapons fire into and around that quadrant. Each banana clip holds at least 30 bullets.
Multiply that times 6.. and quoting Dirty Harry (Clint Eastwood)..."I just want to ask you punk, do you feel lucky?"

As to armed guards... these guys might be making 10 bucks a day.. who knows... they see a boat approaching at night they have no idea who or what till it is almost on top of them. Do you really believe the one guard in a plywood stilted lookout post is going to fire on six men with full auto assault rifles? If I was captain of this squad... I would already be in possession of locally paid for knowledge of protective procedures on site, locations of guards, how many, weapons carried, and contingency plans at the marina in case of hijinks. These men are not fools. They play a stacked deck. Wouldn't you? I would also be in radio communications with my local eyes on... right before breach. Wouldn't you? How much would you like to bet that they aren't carrying at least one RPG armed squad member... and at least one guy with heavy caliber mini gun capable of spraying the entire area down. They could give a rat's hinny about collateral damage!
my friend I am not being critical. I am trying to inform you of what happens in real live fire situations. You will get many people killed with this 'confront them' scene. Your idea of hiding has some merit. The people in Davao were targeted long before they got there. Your best chance at night after the siren goes off ... into the briny.

[PeterLIA]

Crikey Salty - I'm glad your not here, you would get us all killed.
This is getting WAY out of hand and does not fairly represent what goes on here day to day.

[alansmith]

The rule of rifles is simply this... can't remember the American general who said it... if you are close enough to shoot at them... u r within their range also.
Surprise elements of attack always plays the strong suit. If u read the eye witness testimonies of those in the marina during the hijacking .. one, it was late at night.... dies that surprise you? Secondly, they thought it was a domestic quarrel at first.. didn't even recognize the first shots as gunfire. The paramilitary attacked a predetermined target for the ransom monies they had hopes of obtaining. Don't forget that cruisers are never armed with full auto weapons. You don't have the training, skill level, or the local knowledge necessary to compete. It ain't a competition any ways. They got u by the cajones. We've had this same discussion many pages ago on this same thread. "Those who live to runaway get to love another day." Never confont...best bet... ditch bag... passport and monies ... over the side and slither away. You can bank that is number one strategy

[weavis]

Guys. We love you all dearly. However, we are not so keen when you get grumpy over your well meaning comments regarding guns and politics. It makes for unpleasant differences of opinion. It also means one of you is wrong and that makes me sad....

Last call to return the thread to one devoid of gun tactics and whom to shoot and when, and a gentle reminder that if a political discussion gets heated, the thread gets booted east of Cebu..

[weavis]

Originally Posted by PeterLIA

Crikey Salty - I'm glad your not here, you would get us all killed.
This is getting WAY out of hand and does not fairly represent what goes on here day to day.

Just wanted to say, I love your boat...

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by PeterLIA

Crikey Salty - I'm glad your not here, you would get us all killed.
This is getting WAY out of hand and does not fairly represent what goes on here day to day.

Too true Peter.

Every country has its "hot spots" and one can either avoid them or accept a higher risk.

That was the unfortunate case at the Davao Marina, where the idea of a safe haven was slowly being marketed by visitors...but not really backed up by the reality of a segment of that community who could be described as an opportunistic criminal element at war with the government.

Northern Philippines does not have that problem and their economy and FDI is booming....

We foreigners who live here do not feel the need to live in fear...common sense simply suggests that we remain low key and polite in a poor country of proud, lovely people.

Yes , here in the Philippines, we do not live in a nanny state with EMS minutes away and traffic laws enforced, but to fear monger a whole country because of isolated incidents, ....is just plain ridiculous!

[Larry Florida]

Pelagic - great post #315

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Too true Peter.

Every country has its "hot spots" and one can either avoid them or accept a higher risk.

That was the unfortunate case at the Davao Marina, where the idea of a safe haven was slowly being marketed by visitors...but not really backed up by the reality of a segment of that community who could be described as an opportunistic criminal element at war with the government.

Northern Philippines does not have that problem and their economy and FDI is booming....

We foreigners who live here do not feel the need to live in fear...common sense simply suggests that we remain low key and polite in a poor country of proud, lovely people.

Yes , here in the Philippines, we do not live in a nanny state with EMS minutes away and traffic laws enforced, but to fear monger a whole country because of isolated incidents, ....is just plain ridiculous!

Of course, all level headed folks who have spent any significant time in this nation would have to agree; however, the North may have some rough economic times ahead with the peso plunging as a result of recent events and Hanjin going bankrupt due to economic slowdown in China and dismal international shipping market. If the 20,000 Philippine jobs that Hanjin has created in Subic go away, there will be serious economic repercussions for Subic and for Olongapo.

Just my two cents, appreciate your insights.

G2L

[Pelagic]

Hanjin is diverting all its building orders to SUBIC from Korea and laying off in Korea, so for now....I think Subic is only looking at a slowdown.

I believe there will be an 8 to 12 month period of uncertainty.... Not only in the Philippines but worldwide as new political administrations settle down....and the economies adjust to some of these large institutional and delivery failures.

We will be living in interesting times, but as you well know, here in the Philippines, families go back to the provinces to subsist on what they catch and grow.

[n13L5]

Originally Posted by sobraon

Unfortunately I have to inform you that this story is sadly true.
It has been a very long night. The marina was attacked by an armed group last night at 2300.
This was a targeted hostage attack.
Unfortunately four of our fellow sailors have been beaten and forcibly taken at gun point.
Two of the skippers John Risdel 'Aziza" and Kjartan Sekkingstad 'Wimsun' were taken when they went to the aid of an American couple, Steve and Cass 'Outstripp' who were being beaten by the group in the cockpit of their boat, they managed to escape the attack however sustained head injuries. John and Kjarten were hit with the gun stocks and then had guns pointed at them and dragged away. Another Couple Rob Hall and his partner 'Renova' were also forcibly removed from their boat by another group targeting the other marina finger at the same time.
The group attacked the first boats they came to that were open with crew on board.
The attackers were armed and violent.
As the rest of the marina responding to the noise the attackers left and escaped with the three skippers and Robs partner.
I attempted to raise a Mayday alarm on ch 16, however we received no response.
It took quite a long time to raise the alarm as the only security guard was missing. By the time first responders arrived the attackers were long gone.
We are very concern about the developments here and even more concerned for our fellow sailors.

I've been spending half my time in the Philippines for many years. Even the locals don't consider any place on Mindanao as 'safe'

Attacks are common and target both locals and tourists. Guards, police and even military are generally paid off to disappear before the pirates move in. If you see police and guards leaving for no obvious reason, you might want to take a hike yourself.

If you do get kidnapped, you have really bad cards if there's nobody to pay your ransom. Neither the Philippine government nor your own government will even try to find you among the 8000+ islands of the Philippines. If nobody has paid after a year, they'll get tired of feeding you. Unless you're a doctor or you can make yourself really useful in some other way, that'll be the end of you.


Simple verification of a general problem in the Flips can be had by looking at Findacrew.net - there are NO boats coming or going from the Philippines, no matter how long you search. I'm not saying no yacht ever ends up there, as obviously they have, but I could never find skippers looking for crew that are coming or going from there.

And when I get my boat, I will not be going near there. I'd try my luck landing in Antarctica first


Surprisingly, democracy worked in the Philippines at least this once in 2016. They got a president they actually wanted and not the guy that was supported by U.S. interests and the media. Duterte is cleaning up a lot of the drug dealing - much to the CIA's displeasure, no doubt, they hate loosing profits to some disobedient upstart in a country they think should be theirs to rule.

Sooner or later there will be hell to pay...

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Hanjin is diverting all its building orders to SUBIC from Korea and laying off in Korea, so for now....I think Subic is only looking at a slowdown.

I believe there will be an 8 to 12 month period of uncertainty.... Not only in the Philippines but worldwide as new political administrations settle down....and the economies adjust to some of these large institutional and delivery failures.

We will be living in interesting times, but as you well know, here in the Philippines, families go back to the provinces to subsist on what they catch and grow.

Interesting. The IMF seems to agree, at least in terms of Brexit, if not the US elections and expected downturn in US/global growth.


Your report on what Hanjin is doing was appreciated and seems to make sense as labor is cheaper here. No telling what will happen in Korean bankruptcy court, so we can always hope for the best.

Guess you know about Hanjin ships not being allowed to unload recently in LA. That issue seemingly has been resolved, although numerous Hanjin ships are now idol, and it is interesting to see how they expanded the scope of their core business and overextended themselves in good times, to end up like this in bad times. Makes you wonder, no?

Will send you some mangoes from the farm : )

G2L

[n13L5]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Very good point belle -isle

As The new President has served notice that he will NOT accept criticism from other governments as to how he cracks down on corruption and drugs,..., we visitors must tread lightly and keep our own opinions to ourselves

Everybody I know or see in the Philippines supports him. The place is full of I <3 Duterte stickers.

He doesn't make full use of the judicial or executive branches, but neither does Obama.

Filipinos are convinced and there's evidence right in my area, that he gives people the option to quit their offending behavior before they get shot.

And really, it may not be optimal, but what choice does he have, with corruption rampant in both courts and police? We'll see how it goes.

Just as an example: We got attacked by a guy with a machete, high on drugs. But we managed to subdue him and call the police. As they came, he laughed at us and said the police wouldn't lock him up, cause he's their cocaine delivery boy.

Well, you know who armed the drug cartels in Mexico until the Mexican government was outgunned. I hope they don't try the same thing around here.

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by n13L5

Everybody I know or see in the Philippines supports him. The place is full of I <3 Duterte stickers.

He doesn't make full use of the judicial or executive branches, but neither does Obama.

Filipinos are convinced and there's evidence right in my area, that he gives people the option to quit their offending behavior before they get shot.

And really, it may not be optimal, but what choice does he have, with corruption rampant in both courts and police? We'll see how it goes.

Just as an example: We got attacked by a guy with a machete, high on drugs. But we managed to subdue him and call the police. As they came, he laughed at us and said the police wouldn't lock him up, cause he's their cocaine delivery boy.

Well, you know who armed the drug cartels in Mexico until the Mexican government was outgunned. I hope they don't try the same thing around here.

Dude,

Politics are off limits on this thread, and, as one of the bad guys who have made this same mistake before, let me say that "you have been warned."

Hope your post disappears soon, so there will be a consistent, equitable tone maintained on this thread.

However, please feel free to PM me at any time, as these are important issues that perhaps are best discussed in private.

Regards,

G2L