** WARNING ** Pirates - Red Sea

[lenseman]

RED SEA.

PIRACY.

CURRENT FAVORABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND RECENT SUSPICIOUS
ACTIVITY INDICATES THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF PIRATES IN THE RED SEA.

EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED.

Message date: 16 AUG 2012 2043UTC
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[Koeketiene]

RED SEA.

PIRACY.

CURRENT FAVORABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND RECENT SUSPICIOUS
ACTIVITY INDICATES THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF PIRATES IN THE RED SEA.

EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED.

Message date: 16 AUG 2012 2043UTC
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Where did you get this from?

F*** all has happened there for yonks.
All so-called 'suspicious activity' has turned out to be fishing related.
Most reports of suspicious activity have been from private security sources - no doubt eager to justify their business.

 

[lenseman]

PM sent.

 

[BeBe]

Yes, pirates...where have you been?

Passages from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives to the Red Sea have been no-go since 2011 and the situation has not improved.

We were in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives in 2011...in April 2011, we transported our boat aboard a SevenStar-chartered freighter through the pirate-infested areas.

We knew the crew of Quest...we were docked next to them in Cochin, India. They were murdered by Somali pirates. We knew the crew of ING...we were rafted next to them in Sri Lanka. They were ransomed after nearly a year in captivity by Somali pirates.

If anyone needs a warning about this area, they have probably been on the moon in the last 2 years.

Bill

 

[miyagimoon]

RED SEA.

PIRACY.

CURRENT FAVORABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND RECENT SUSPICIOUS
ACTIVITY INDICATES THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF PIRATES IN THE RED SEA.

EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED.

Message date: 16 AUG 2012 2043UTC
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.

More info need on where this came from. There are some 15 yachts heading that way starting 22 Sept on the Vasco Da Gamma Red Sea Rally.

 

[Sybaris]

PM sent.

It would be great if you could make the source of this information public here instead of sending a PM to one person.

 

[lenseman]

It would be great if you could make the source of this information public here instead of sending a PM to one person.

The PM that I sent was private and to a personal friend who I have known for a few years as we used to live in the same town. He has just started back at work after a week or two away sailing. The contents of the message was private.

When I post on these forums, I do not have to disclose my source to you or anyone else, suffice to say, most folk on here know me by now and also know that my information is usually very sound and accurate and regularly arrives on my desk from a number of directions.

For your information I used to work for very many years in government communications as a radio specialist.

Before that, I was in the military, I will leave you to guess which service?
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[miyagimoon]

So how about giving abit more info for those who are intending to sail there. The rally is intending to sail the whole of the Egyptian coast, Gulf of Aqaba, Sudan and Eritrea. Does your info indicate that they may be heading into a dangerous area.

 

[Koeketiene]

So how about giving abit more info for those who are intending to sail there. The rally is intending to sail the whole of the Egyptian coast, Gulf of Aqaba, Sudan and Eritrea. Does your info indicate that they may be heading into a dangerous area.

No - they should be quite safe.
Though maybe not from land-based pirates/rip-off merchants.
Suez is particularly bad as is Eritrea.

 

[lenseman]

So how about giving abit more info for those who are intending to sail there. The rally is intending to sail the whole of the Egyptian coast, Gulf of Aqaba, Sudan and Eritrea. Does your info indicate that they may be heading into a dangerous area.

If there was any further information, I would have included it in my original post.

When I get further information, I post UPDATES. Currently, there is no further news, as and when I get it, I can assure you I will post it here.

Now I am not sure how long you have been interested in sailing down the Red Sea and I am not aware of how far south you intend to travel but you need to be aware of a few salient points.

Firstly, the lower part of the Red Sea is a very risky area for leisure/cruising sailors especially if they value their freedom.

Secondly, you probably will not get any boat insurance cover south of a point located at 35°E. This is where my insurance STOPS!

If you proceed further south, you need to be aware of the ISAF Registering Point located on a line drawn between Jeddah and Masa Wasi. If you are not aware of this then you really should not be sailing in this region.

As Bebe, has pointed out earlier IT IS DANGEROUS to sail in the Red Sea and becomes more dangerous the further south you proceed. Yemen is becoming like Somalia so you will get no respite which every side of the Red Sea you decide to sail. Once you are down near the Bab-el-Mandeb (Gates of Tears) you are in hostile territory and are on your own. At best you will just get robbed, money, food, watches, radios, sextant, chart-plotter, boat even! At worst you will be a hostage or dead.

Do not rely on the EUFOR to bale you out. Their mission is to protect the humanitarian aid to the starving in eastern Africa. They do not want to have to rescue stupid yachtsmen and women who think thy know better!

You are not called WAFI's for fun!

RIGHT, was that enough information for you?

 

[miyagimoon]

To OR4751 - I thank you for your response and advising that it should be safe.

To lenseman - I thank you too for the info that you have provided.

For your info I too was in communications and prior to that in the Military. We also spent last winter in Northern Cyprus with BeBe and are fully aware of their views.

For further info the rally will be going as far East as 40deg East and as far South as 15 deg South. Our insurers (N&G) have no problem with that and neither does 3 other insurance companies that have provided quotations.

If you check out the Vasco Da Gamma Rally web site you will note that the organiser; Lo Brust has a fair amount of experience in respect to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and because of the Pirate threat is only going as far as Eritrea. I was wondering if you had info that he did not have access to which may affect his planning etc. If so I am sure you will update us all.

 

[BeBe]

Before that, I was in the military, I will leave you to guess which service?

Click-snap, Salute!!!

And, Albert's question was legitimate. You are posting to a forum, not some Top Secret Private spot for super-spies.

I will give Albert a partial answer: Albert, Lo Brust is leading the Vasco da Gamma. Lo is likely the most experienced person to lead groups through this area and keep groups away from harms way. There is another group leader by the name of Rene M. Tiemessen, s/v ALONDRA. This guy should not be trusted with anything.

Bill

 

[Sybaris]

The PM that I sent was private and to a personal friend

Sure anyone is free to send private PM's but I think it was reasonable of me to think it was related to this thread.

When I post on these forums, I do not have to disclose my source

Of course but what is the need for secrecy in this? I and other Red Sea sailors have a real interest to know all we can about possible threats and dangers, but cannot simply take a statement such as yours which spans a huge cruising area (over 1000nm from north to south) at face value with nothing further to back it up. Especially nowadays when politicians and so called security experts often come out with the most outrageous claims and keep everything clouded in unnecessary secrecy in the name of national security.

Until more detailed information as to; what exactly the danger is, where the danger is in more special terms, and what and why things have changed since say a year ago, I will have to disregard your warning. The Red Sea is simply too big. It is a bit like warning people from sailing in the central Atlantic because a hurricane is due somewhere, and not knowing who said so.

Per

 

[AndrewB]

The source is a routine US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (Maritime Domain) Broadcast Warning, HYDROPAC 2334/2012, dated 16th August, that can readily be reached via their portal, http://msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.portal.

Lensman, we are grateful to you for relaying these messages, but I don't understand why you are so coy about your sources. Other people here do monitor these as well, they are all in the public domain.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

If there was any further information, I would have included it in my original post.

When I get further information, I post UPDATES. Currently, there is no further news, as and when I get it, I can assure you I will post it here.

Now I am not sure how long you have been interested in sailing down the Red Sea and I am not aware of how far south you intend to travel but you need to be aware of a few salient points.

Firstly, the lower part of the Red Sea is a very risky area for leisure/cruising sailors especially if they value their freedom.

Secondly, you probably will not get any boat insurance cover south of a point located at 35°E. This is where my insurance STOPS!

If you proceed further south, you need to be aware of the ISAF Registering Point located on a line drawn between Jeddah and Masa Wasi. If you are not aware of this then you really should not be sailing in this region.

As Bebe, has pointed out earlier IT IS DANGEROUS to sail in the Red Sea and becomes more dangerous the further south you proceed. Yemen is becoming like Somalia so you will get no respite which every side of the Red Sea you decide to sail. Once you are down near the Bab-el-Mandeb (Gates of Tears) you are in hostile territory and are on your own. At best you will just get robbed, money, food, watches, radios, sextant, chart-plotter, boat even! At worst you will be a hostage or dead.

Do not rely on the EUFOR to bale you out. Their mission is to protect the humanitarian aid to the starving in eastern Africa. They do not want to have to rescue stupid yachtsmen and women who think thy know better!

You are not called WAFI's for fun!

RIGHT, was that enough information for you?

Strange place this!! You can get a kick in the balls trying to help some folks

 

[Robert Wilson]

If there was any further information, I would have included it in my original post.
.........................
You are not called WAFI's for fun!

QUOTE]

A cerebly challenged, non-21st century techno-file would like to be reminded of what WAFI stands for.
I presume the "I" is idiot and the "F" has something to do with reproduction?
Please be ultra condescending and patronising in your responses - it makes me feel important.....
Ta.

 

[oldvarnish]

When I post on these forums, I do not have to disclose my source to you or anyone else, suffice to say, most folk on here know me by now and also know that my information is usually very sound and accurate and regularly arrives on my desk from a number of directions.

When sources are disclosed, it is information.

Without sources it is gossip.

Usually, it would not matter much. But in this case some might consider it was a matter of life or death.

 

[BeBe]

I am assuming that the "FI" is not calling me a "WAFI." I happen to be a "RI."

BTW, the SA Route was not much better in 2011 with regard to pirates. Much of it you do not hear about. For instance when in the Maldives in 2011, I learned and verified that there were 39 Somali Pirates in prison in the Maldives. Since tourism is the only product of the Maldives, releasing this sort of information would be detrimental to their economy. Additionally, in 2011 there was plenty of pirate activity in the Seychelles and near Madagascar.

We have friends leaving Cocos Keeling today for SA...our prayers are with them.

Bill

 

[nauticalnomad]

Passages from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives to the Red Sea have been no-go since 2011 and the situation has not improved.

We were in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives in 2011...in April 2011, we transported our boat aboard a SevenStar-chartered freighter through the pirate-infested areas.

We knew the crew of Quest...we were docked next to them in Cochin, India. They were murdered by Somali pirates. We knew the crew of ING...we were rafted next to them in Sri Lanka. They were ransomed after nearly a year in captivity by Somali pirates.

If anyone needs a warning about this area, they have probably been on the moon in the last 2 years.

Bill

Remind me not to moor up near you then....

 

[BeBe]

Remind me not to moor up near you then....

When you are circumnavigating it is amazing how many others you meet and know that are doing the same thing. The seasons put you generally in the same places at the same time. Small places like Galle, Sri Lanka where we were rafted to ING, used to fill up for a month or so once a year. There is one non-private marina in India and it is at Cochin, where we were moored next to Quest...it is a tiny place with less than 6 meters clearance in the fairway between pontoons...very easy to meet people.

Bill