Piracy
Even back in the late 60s and early 70s when I was living in
Singapore there were yachts that would occasionally disappear while
transiting the Sunda or Bangka straits enroute to Bali and points
beyond. Acts of piracy against commercial vessels seemed to be much
less prevalent then, a situation now reversed.
On August 14th, 1973 we successfully repelled armed boarders while at
anchorage off Selaru Island of the Tanimbar Group. We were out of
Dili, Timor en route to Cairns when we decided to anchor for the
night. In the predawn hours a boat came alongside and men were
attempting to board with shotguns and other long arms when a
carefully placed burst from an M-16 dissuaded them. There was no
bloodshed and the encounter was over quickly.
There were two reasons we survived the encounter:
- We always had someone on anchor watch throughout the night.
- We were armed and kept the weapons close at hand.
Of course, perhaps we would have only been robbed and would have
survived if we had cooperated. That's a tough risk to take.
Deciding whether or not to carry firearms is a personal choice. I've
seen estimates for armed vessels as high as 40% among cruising
sailors and as low as 10% in areas known to be quite safe.
Avoiding troubled spots is the best advice. Sailing in a small convoy
through troubled areas is also helpful. Sailing without lights is
often suggested. However, in some areas like the approaches to
Singapore where more than 600 ships per day converge, sailing without
lights is likely to make you a suspected pirate and a possible target
for ship's Captain having a bad day. In that area, I would have every
light aboard going.
Bruce
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L. Bruce Jones U.S. SUBMARINES, INC.
President POSEIDON UNDERSEA RESORTS LLC
Tel: 208/687-9057 Fax: 208/441-7478
E-mail: bruce@ussubmarines.com http://ussubs.com
http://poseidonresorts.com
"Design, engineering and construction of submarines and submersibles"
"Submarine related consulting, sales and operations."
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