I saw the warning
posted by a Facebook friend: “Piracy Still a Clear and Present Danger in Gulf of
Aden and Indian Ocean” http://www.noonsite.com/General/Piracy/piracy-still-a-clear-and-present-danger-in-gulf-of-aden-and-indian-ocean
We followed up with
our friend, and he gave us a couple more web sites to check out. They are
listed below.
We were given lots
to think about by an email this same friend sent us. Here are some excerpts:
“I would rely on military sources in my planning of my
route when sailing from Thailand to South Africa. After all the Indian Ocean is
considered a war zone and the military cannot be expected to provide any
assistance to pleasure vessels whatsoever.
The military mission is to protect commercial shipping period. Insurance companies assess risk for their
insurance of commercial vessels and have shaded the entire Indian Ocean as a
listed area as you know. …
My known information on insurance assessment is that when Quest was pirated they were insured and were within the acceptable route limits of their insurance company (a Lloyds company affiliated with the Blue Water Rally). Once Quest was returned to the United States by the military the insurance company absolved themselves completely of any claims made against Quest because they claim that the vessel was pirated and therefore not insured immediately before, during or after the pirate attack. There was and will be no payment for the damage to Quest or the murder of the crew onboard by the insurance company.
… [If] you transit a known pirate area (i.e. Maldives and Chagos) your insurance will not be valid if you are attacked by pirates.
… [If] I … wanted to safely get across the Indian Ocean I would take the World Arc route across the Indian Ocean
(http://www.worldcruising.com/WORLDARC2014/itinerary.aspx). I would bypass the Maldives … and bypass Chagos (a known pirate area today) and head to Mauritius, Reunion and onto Richards Bay during the upcoming sailing season. I would take the advice of UKMTO, EU NAVFOR, US Naval Forces, Spanish Navy and French Navy and get out of the Indian Ocean area as quickly, as directly and as safely as possible. …
My known information on insurance assessment is that when Quest was pirated they were insured and were within the acceptable route limits of their insurance company (a Lloyds company affiliated with the Blue Water Rally). Once Quest was returned to the United States by the military the insurance company absolved themselves completely of any claims made against Quest because they claim that the vessel was pirated and therefore not insured immediately before, during or after the pirate attack. There was and will be no payment for the damage to Quest or the murder of the crew onboard by the insurance company.
… [If] you transit a known pirate area (i.e. Maldives and Chagos) your insurance will not be valid if you are attacked by pirates.
… [If] I … wanted to safely get across the Indian Ocean I would take the World Arc route across the Indian Ocean
(http://www.worldcruising.com/WORLDARC2014/itinerary.aspx). I would bypass the Maldives … and bypass Chagos (a known pirate area today) and head to Mauritius, Reunion and onto Richards Bay during the upcoming sailing season. I would take the advice of UKMTO, EU NAVFOR, US Naval Forces, Spanish Navy and French Navy and get out of the Indian Ocean area as quickly, as directly and as safely as possible. …
While the number of attacks in the Indian Ocean has
decreased significantly
this past crossing season the reasons are fairly clear: 1) There are more
naval vessels using deadly force against the pirates, 2) Most merchant
vessels now employ armed guards onboard and these x-military people shoot to kill, 3) The 2011 sailing season saw historically high levels of piracy so
even cutting those attack numbers in half results in higher than average
pirate attacks even this past 2012 season.
this past crossing season the reasons are fairly clear: 1) There are more
naval vessels using deadly force against the pirates, 2) Most merchant
vessels now employ armed guards onboard and these x-military people shoot to kill, 3) The 2011 sailing season saw historically high levels of piracy so
even cutting those attack numbers in half results in higher than average
pirate attacks even this past 2012 season.
[Two] good websites for the latest pirate activity are:
http://www.shipping.nato.int/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre/live-piracy-map "
http://www.shipping.nato.int/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre/live-piracy-map "
[END OF EXCERPTS FROM EMAIL]
So after giving it
more thought and weighing the risks, we have decided to alter our route. At
this point in time, our plan is to head down the west coast of Sumatra,
Indonesia, touch down at the island of Cocos Keeling, then cross over to
Mauritius (with maybe a stop at Rodriguez). We have to get cracking on our plan
and try to find others going this same way.
We were sooooo looking forward to a month in the Chagos – away from civilization, in the midst of nature about as untouched as it can get, and in fishing grounds that would keep us well fed for at least a month. But like I said – maybe we’ll go in 2018 or 2019 … we haven’t scratched it off our list yet.
