Armed robbery in Panama

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Yes, many do not like FBook but what does criticism of it have to do with the thread subject?

My heart and prayers go out to any who face such situations. We are now seriously considering cancelling all our plans to transit canal West to East and cruise Western Caribbean. Maybe its just not worth the risk, increased insurance and hassle so we may stay on the best coast.
Getting no response in several hours to DSC emergency calls from vessels in sight and the Panamanian Navy/CG is really inexcuseable. I hope the problem was just something to do with this individual case and not systemic. Again, it makes me hesitant to cruise these waters.

Well my experience of Panama was for me a peaceful one.. however the night before I arrived a boat anchored on the Colon side near the old YC was robbed. The crew went ashore in the dinghy leaving just the skipper aboard, four guys swam out and boarded then beat up the skipper to find the location of the safe folks on these sites keep babbling about.. he did not have one so took quite a hammering before they believed him.
I spent my time in Shelter Bay and after the transit on the Las Brisas anchorage..
Went into Colon a few times on the bus from Shelter Bay, rough old city but never spent the night there.. Panama City side was fine.. spent a few late nights ashore with no worries.. good supermarket in the city, 5 floors.
Sad these folks had a bad time, glad they suffered no serious harm just lost goods, these are replacable.

[Montanan]

Per the OP:

"After we were free again we lifted the anchor as I just wanted to go back to Marina Linton to get some help and try to manage to block all our bank accounts. On this 7 miles trip we were sending Pan Pan via VHF and issued a DSC distress messages too. We could see container ships on the AIS. Nobody was responding."


To declare pan-pan correctly, the caller repeats it three times: "Pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan," then states the intended recipient, either "all stations, all stations, all stations," or a specific station, e.g. "Victoria Coast Guard Radio, Victoria Coast Guard Radio, Victoria Coast Guard Radio." Then the caller states their craft's identification, position, nature of the problem, and the type of assistance or advice they require, if any

A three-letter backronym, "possible assistance needed" or "pay attention now" derives from pan.

But if the nature of their Pan Pan notification was "We were robbed!!!" What, if any, response, is there to be made by anyone that was listening? After a robbery has taken place, and there is no aid or action required of your fellow mariners, why would you expect someone to respond to such notification which notification likely should have been of a Sécurité Protocol. Securite: A radio call that usually issues navigational warnings, meteorological warnings, and any other warning needing to be issued that may concern the safety of life at sea, yet may not be particularly life-threatening. A Securite is a giving advice notification, not a request for assistance or advice.

If there was an injury or threat to the safety of the vessel then the message should indicate such and specifically the type of assistance or advice they require. I suspect their message did not indicate such specific request for assistance or advice, hence no replies were made.

Examples of marine Pan Pan messages from Wikipedia:

Nautical examples

Examples of the correct use of a "pan-pan" call from a boat or ship may include the following cases, provided the skipper or master remains confident they can handle the situation, and that there is no current danger to the life of any person or to the safety of the vessel. Once the urgent situation that led to the pan-pan broadcast is resolved or contended with, conventional practice is for the station that initiated the pan-pan call to make a followup broadcast to all stations, declaring that the urgent situation no longer exists.

A call that originates as a "pan-pan" signal might be followed by a Mayday distress signal if the situation deteriorates to the point of "grave and imminent danger," thus warranting immediate action (intervention, assistance, response) on the part of listeners in accordance with standard operating practices for distress signaling.

Fouled propeller, engine failure or out of fuel
Provided the vessel is now either anchored or under sail and safe from any immediate danger of collision or stranding. The crew may plan to clear the propeller, refuel from an onboard supply, hoist sail, or use alternative propulsion. Alternatively, as part of the pan-pan call, the skipper may request a tow from a suitable vessel, if possible, but without immediate urgency.

Small fire on board—now extinguished
Fire is dangerous afloat, but if it was small and contained, and is now certainly put out, and with no injury to people, then a "pan-pan" call is appropriate to warn others that investigations are underway to establish the extent of the damage, clear the smoke from below, and re-establish passage as soon as possible.

Unsure of position
Provided there is no apparent danger of stranding or hitting rocks, a pan-pan call on marine VHF radio may allow nearby coast-stations, and perhaps other vessels to triangulate the source of the transmissions and provide a fix and perhaps advice on the best course to safety.

Man-overboard recovery
If safely recovering a person overboard, a pan-pan call on VHF makes other nearby vessels aware of the situation and ensures that they keep a lookout, avoid coming too close, avoid excessive wake or otherwise interfering. It also alerts them that the recovery vessel is maneuvering for urgent life-saving, and therefore may not manoeuvre in accordance with International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS). In a more critical situation—the recovery vessel has lost sight of the person overboard, the person overboard is unconscious, there is a danger of hypothermia, or other grave risk to life—a mayday call is more appropriate, so that other nearby vessels can help rather than keep clear.

Overdue vessel
The Canadian and U.S. Coast Guards (and likely similar maritime safety agencies in other countries[citation needed]) issue "urgent marine information broadcasts" concerning vessels reported overdue, as part of the process of a 'communications search' or 'pre-com' phase of uncertain, possible distress, as determined under the authority of a maritime rescue co-ordination centre or joint maritime-aeronautical rescue co-ordination centre. The message content, a description of the vessel under the apprehension of being missing, its last known position, the date or time last heard from, and the supposed route or passage plan of the vessel, is preceded by the procedure words pan-pan and is addressed to "all stations." Any stations having information concerning the whereabouts of the named vessel are asked to communicate with and report same to the nearest coast guard station.

Imminent collision alert
A pan-pan call is warranted to attempt urgent radio contact with an approaching vessel that may be in danger or is approaching a dangerous close-quarters situation that would risk collision. This would be a 'bridge-to-bridge' communication, and could be combined with five or more short horn or whistle blasts, which is the "Your intentions are unclear or not understood" signal. A short blast is one second long, compared to a prolonged blast of five seconds under the COLREGS. An urgent warning could also be given over the radio, for example, if the called vessel appears unaware that it is at risk of striking a person in a small boat or a swimmer. A loud hailer could also be used along with a radio warning.

Medical assistance
A "pan-pan medico" call is officially obsolete,[citation needed] but was for cases where someone needed medical help at sea. An immediate risk to life makes a "mayday" call more appropriate. If the vessel is heading to shore and wants an ambulance crew at the dock, the local Coast Guard station can arrange this. A doctor or other trained medical advisor may also be available on the radio, perhaps by patching through via telephone from ashore or from a nearby vessel

[CatNewBee]

I think, it was good to make a VHF broadcast to warn other boats around of the piracy thread. However, they were underway to a sheltered place now, and immediate assistance was not required, so no need to reply to the call and clutter the frequencies with discussions.

I guess a warning with description of the attacking vessel, person involved, arms used and a re quest for sharp lookout and reporting of sights is appropriate to track them down. Even the EPIRB could had been used to catch them by the authorities. Especially the coordinates on land could have been useful to get their hideaway discovered.

Hope they catch the soon.

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

No kidding grumpy farts here for sure, a cruising couplele is robbed, the woman almost raped, but hey lets not discuss cruising or crime prevention etc, let's just bash FB, Catamarans, "wealthy people" and Panama......
Personally I hope the criminals are caught, it sounds like the same ones from a prior robbery the week before.

Correct. I was not kidding. I have no idea what happened, or if anything even DID happen. All I know is that people are chatting on an Internet forum. As for your wording, it should probably read "cruising couple allegedly robbed", and "woman allegedly almost raped". Just my opinion, and the way most folks in the legal profession approach such matters.

As for discussing "crime prevention", I thought discussing firearms on this forum was not allowed ... for some odd reason.

As for hoping the criminals will be caught, well, that will solve everything, if it did happen, will it not? I mean, hey, we're not talking about some third-world nation.

As to my main point, and call "Mr. Morris", if that helps clarify things, it appears that posting stuff on the Net and hoping for donations from generous strangers is becoming quite popular. Not just on boating forums, but everywhere. Thus, I believe half of what I see, less of what I read, and none of what I hear. That's just me.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

Correct. I was not kidding. I have no idea what happened, or if anything even DID happen. All I know is that people are chatting on an Internet forum. As for your wording, it should probably read "cruising couple allegedly robbed", and "woman allegedly almost raped". Just my opinion, and the way most folks in the legal profession approach such matters.

As for discussing "crime prevention", I thought discussing firearms on this forum was not allowed ... for some odd reason.

As for hoping the criminals will be caught, well, that will solve everything, if it did happen, will it not? I mean, hey, we're not talking about some third-world nation.

As to my main point, and call "Mr. Morris", if that helps clarify things, it appears that posting stuff on the Net and hoping for donations from generous strangers is becoming quite popular. Not just on boating forums, but everywhere. Thus, I believe half of what I see, less of what I read, and none of what I hear. That's just me.

That be like the new transmitting protocol:

"MoneyDay, MoneyDay, MoneyDay, All Stations, Vessel Name, Location, Nature of Emergency, Response requested"


FYI, an attribution:

Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear.

Quote Investigator: The short story “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” by Edgar Allan Poe appeared in the November 1845 issue of “Graham’s Magazine”. The tale was set in a private hospital for the mentally ill, and the adage was spoken by the nominal head of the institution.

“You are young yet, my friend,” replied my host, “but the time will arrive when you will learn to judge for yourself of what is going on in the world, without trusting to the gossip of others. Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see."

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

Correct. I was not kidding. I have no idea what happened, or if anything even DID happen. All I know is that people are chatting on an Internet forum. As for your wording, it should probably read "cruising couple allegedly robbed", and "woman allegedly almost raped". Just my opinion, and the way most folks in the legal profession approach such matters.

As for discussing "crime prevention", I thought discussing firearms on this forum was not allowed ... for some odd reason.

As for hoping the criminals will be caught, well, that will solve everything, if it did happen, will it not? I mean, hey, we're not talking about some third-world nation.

As to my main point, and call "Mr. Morris", if that helps clarify things, it appears that posting stuff on the Net and hoping for donations from generous strangers is becoming quite popular. Not just on boating forums, but everywhere. Thus, I believe half of what I see, less of what I read, and none of what I hear. That's just me.

Prime prevention does not need to Involve use of firearms, as for your other comments I guess you put zero faith in sites such as cssn or noonsite, since if you did not see it happen you don't believe it or, well only half of it?

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Prime prevention does not need to Involve use of firearms, as for your other comments I guess you put zero faith in sites such as cssn or noonsite, since if you did not see it happen you don't believe it or, well only half of it?

Yup. That about sums it up. If something actually did happen, I hope that a lot of strangers sent them a lot of money. That way, they can once-again set sail and continue cruising until the next reported mishap.

Kind of like Save The Children, yet now money can be sent via PayPal & Patroen. Cool!

By the way, I’m thinking about heading out next summer to find that Morris that is drifting around the North Atlantic. Shouldn’t be TOO hard to find. Bahamas - Gulf Stream ... I basically know where to look. Hope there’s not TOO much bird poo. I hate cleaning.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

I think, it was good to make a VHF broadcast to warn other boats around of the piracy thread. However, they were underway to a sheltered place now, and immediate assistance was not required, so no need to reply to the call and clutter the frequencies with discussions.

I guess a warning with description of the attacking vessel, person involved, arms used and a re quest for sharp lookout and reporting of sights is appropriate to track them down. Even the EPIRB could had been used to catch them by the authorities. Especially the coordinates on land could have been useful to get their hideaway discovered.

Hope they catch the soon.

In all the threads discussing what to do if attacked by pirate I have never seen anyone discuss sending a DSC pirate attack message on their VHF. Such a message would let every VHF within range know that there was an attack in progress and the exact position. It's also a good argument for having a VHF available from inside the vessel behind any security devices.

[PortClydeMe]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

In all the threads discussing what to do if attacked by pirate I have never seen anyone discuss sending a DSC pirate attack message on their VHF. Such a message would let every VHF within range know that there was an attack in progress and the exact position. It's also a good argument for having a VHF available from inside the vessel behind any security devices.

VHF. Hmmm. Line of sight communication. Third-world country, Spanish. Hmmm. SSB? I wonder what really happened, if anything. Isn't the new world great? The Internet. Post, and money will often come. It's interesting, I must say.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by PortClydeMe

VHF. Hmmm. Line of sight communication. Third-world country, Spanish. Hmmm. SSB? I wonder what really happened, if anything. Isn't the new world great? The Internet. Post, and money will often come. It's interesting, I must say.

Since the DSC Pirate attack message is a digital code that the radio would display the message in whatever language you chose for your interface, but that may vary with radio brand. Alerting every boat within 20 miles is better than alerting no one at all.

[argonauta1]

Horrifying experience! Reaction to such an invasion often drives the outcome. You folks manged to respond in such a way that it contributed to your survival Well done! Very familiar with the area and there is a lot of crime. We avoided any stop between The San Blas and Colon except for Portobelo. That is because through our networking, we learned where the bad spots were. Other cruisers were really the only decent source of intelligence so developing and maintaining contacts was the best approach to staying out of trouble. Ending up in an unplanned location because of weather or technical issues can be dangerous as you discovered. We have done the same thing and been lucky. It should be taken as a warning to leave if you see no other boats anchored. Once offshore, the only real "party line" communication even in today's world remains the SSB Net. Thus, that system is the best source of information relevant to offshore cruising. FB is too limited and only works if there is WIFI. Sat phones are great for personal business but that is all. Essential: engage in networking with other yachts. Thank you for reporting and safe sailing.

[Revenue Cutter]

So sorry to hear of your loss.

Having suffered a home-invasion burglary ourselves on land in an upscale Marin County neighborhood, we can identify with what you are feeling. Despite a couple years and major investments in "home security features", we still can not seem to feel at home in our house (or neighborhood). We've considered escaping back to the sea, but a combination of advanced age and declining health rules that out.

I hate most the lingering impact of the incident. I find I've changed from someone seeing the cup as "half full" to "half empty". It is still an uphill struggle to see the world with a sense of gratitude.

On the "flip side", as a historian I find I view our country's founding fathers with a renewed appreciation for what they went through in the "loss of 'stuff'" and disruption of comforts they'd created in their colonial era. When viewed from the future, this renewed appreciation form our past may be just part of my own personal healing process.

I'm hoping you find yours "healing". Maybe you won't have to sell your boat, or maybe you will? Either way, we wish you guys the best!

Please keep us posted.

Joe & Victoria

[Schuedog]

Well that's your opinion. Others use it to keep in touch with people who are in different time zones so each person can view ot on their time. It can be useful.

[Timoqueg]

"The radiotelephony message PAN-PAN is the international standard urgency signal that someone aboard a boat, ship, aircraft, or other vehicle uses to declare that they have a situation that is urgent, but for the time being, does not pose an immediate danger to anyone's life or to the vessel itself. This is referred to as a state of urgency."

Anyone at any time who boards a boat without the explicit permission of the skipper is by his or her foot onboard that boat is activation a "State of Urgency." Anyone who brings any type of weapon, of any kind at all onboard someone else's boat, that is then a heightened state of urgency. However, if any person brandishes any kind of weapon that the skipper does not have absolute control over that is immediately a May Day call.

[LargeMarge]

Dear Ones,
I can only imagine your sense of invasion of your personal space.

We are supposed to be secure in our possessions and home, but occasionally, trespassers infringe on our rights. How sad is this tragedy!

I know how synthetic is a condolence from a stranger, yet here I am:
Is there anything I can say or do to help?

I was in similar situations. All I can offer you is 'this will get better'. In the meanwhile, please know I hold you in my heart!

From a metaphysical view, you know you created your successes, and you know you can re-create them anytime you choose.

* * * * *

To trespassers, I encourage you to examine your abilities. How can you move beyond believing you are 'less than' or 'incapable'? I wish you well.