The Indian Ocean, Insurance and Insanity.

As is obvious from recent headlines and from a great many items that the press are voluntarily refusing to publicize, the situation in the Indian Ocean is severe and extensive.

Most insurance companies have cancelled their coverage which made things difficult for the various yachts in the Blue Water Rally. Some of those yachts elected to follow differing routes including returning to Asia despite adverse weather conditions. Many of the yacht owners decided to ship their yachts from the Maldives to Turkey but the subsequent bankruptcy of a shipping company has complicated matters for those yacht owners.

The Thailand To Turkey convoy originally consisting of about thirty yachts was unable to obtain any escort services from the EUFOR or any other naval authorities in the region. The convoy leader is said to have experienced great frustration in dealing with the naval forces who are clearly only interested in protecting high value commercial shipping. It is of course highly improper for the naval vessels in the area to insist that pleasure yachts repeatedly identify themselves and their exact latitude and longitude on VHF frequencies known to be monitored by pirate vessels. The various members of the convoy reported that there is absolutely no cooperation between the naval vessels of various countries participating in EUFOR.

The details of the route chosen by the convoy are being kept secret even though the convoy has now reached comparatively safer waters.

JonBenet Ramsey and Piracy off the Somalia Coast.

One of my sources in the investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey murder is a stew whose travels and knowledge of linguistics compelled her to provide me with certain information concerning the ransom note's stylistic comparison with Malaysian English.

Although now a stew aboard a motor yacht, she is a blue water sailor and is familiar with sailing yachts. The entire yachting world is much abuzz about the recent murder of the M/V Cheetah Moon's chef in St. Maartin as well as the seizure of the S/V Quest and the S/V Ing by Somalia pirates.

I have wondered why yachts would take risks. I'm aware that some yachts have transited these waters in the company of other yachts and of course it is well known that many yachts turn off their running lights and AIS gear when transiting waters anywhere near the Somalia coast. It is also well known that certain security teams are taken aboard temporarily but only superyachts can afford to take such precautionary measures.

The family aboard the S/V ING was following the officially published route. There had been previous piracy attacks but these had been confined to large commercial vessels that are the targets so cherished by pirates because insurance companies are so certain to pay well for the release of the vessel and its cargo. The ING did have the option of sailing a different route but such a deviation would have placed it closer to the Somali shore and would have exposed it to danger for a greater period of time. Also a small sailboat with such a limited supply of fresh water aboard would not be well-advised to make such a deviation as it would mean standing into danger as regards the expected tracks of cyclones during cyclone season.

Even a cursory review of naval history during World War Two shows how easy it is for entire fleets to get lost out there despite all the surface vessels and aircraft that are seeking them. Its a big ocean. Unfortunately, sometimes even a small yacht trying desperately to simply slip quietly by can be found by pirates.

One notable problem concerning piracy is that it is legally a crime that requires an attack on a vessel that is located in international waters. Any attack taking place in territorial waters rather than on the high seas is a matter of classification and publication by that nation. Many nations do not keep a tally of yacht related crimes and, as is quite common in tourist destinations, crime reports are always prepared with a view toward the local economy.

Note: Yachties seem to think that convoys provide a measure of safety but its quite obvious that they do not. Many sailors seem to think that a convoy will be protected more promptly by the Naval Forces in the area but that is unlikely since the naval ships are assigned particular stations to protect large value commercial ships. For most incidents a helicopter would take over thirty minutes to be on station and a destroyer that deviated from its sector would take two hours to get on scene. Its just not going to happen. Yachts are essentially on their own.