Private Convoys on Commerce

[redbopeep]

Private armed convoy. Though not really a "safe" option, it could be...These folks are looking for $120K-$200K/4days so $30K//day minimum of escort service through the Gulf of Aden. If ships expect to take 4 days...I'd expect 8 days for yachts. That would mean it would take a very large convoy of yachts for this to be cost effective.


Pay US$ 30000- Cross Gulf of Aden with Private Navy Escorts | Marine Insight

[Trim50]

I am interested in finding other sailors who would consider transiting the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea as a small convoy with the protection of an armed escort like that provided by Sea Marshals

Sea Marshals

If interested, shoot me a private message.

[mico]

How difficult would it to be to mount a 40mm Bofors on our foredeck and would I need to furl the inner staysail first before we fired it?

I'd go with a shoulder fired Javelin but it might be a lil difficult to balance properly on a rolling deck until we have sorted our auto helm out

[JeanneP]

From the topics in the Sea Marshalls' website, I interpret their services to be geared towards super-yachts (100+ feet) and commercial ships, placing three Marshalls on a vessel as guards against pirates. That's a lot of extra people for the average cruising yacht - is my assumption correct?

We've rarely sailed in company with other yachts, simply because staying together is very difficult due to the differences in speed of the boats and the experience and abilities of crew on each boat. We have never arrived at our destination at the same time as any boat with which we sailed in company. It seems to me that, unless there are several sailboats all within sight of each other and minutes away from rendering or receiving assistance, there are no benefits to traveling in a convoy. Two comparably sized boats traveling together could probably control their speed sufficiently to stay within sight of each other, but I'm not convinced that more boats than that could practically do that.

From what I've read, the Somali pirates aren't the unsophisticated thugs that they used to be; they now have pretty sophisticated communications gear and nasty artillery in blazing fast boats.

Seems to me that a commercial carrier, such as Dockwise or Sevenstar Yacht Transport, with armed crew such as the Sea Marshalls, would be a better and safer choice. Have you investigated that option?

[Trim50]

Originally Posted by JeanneP

Seems to me that a commercial carrier, such as Dockwise or Sevenstar Yacht Transport, with armed crew such as the Sea Marshalls, would be a better and safer choice. Have you investigated that option?

Well of course we have. In fact our friends just arrived in Turkey to collect their boat after being shipped from Singapore.

I'm simply looking for anyone else who has arrived in Australia or Indonesia and is currently considering alternate methods of transiting to the Med.

The cost to ship a 50ft vessel from Singapore to Turkey is $45k+

At some point private vessels will again begin transiting the Gulf of Aden and it will like initiate in the form of convoys.

For those that follow the piracy activity on a weekly basis, you know that piracy in the GOA is many times lower than Indonesia. Unfortunately, GOA pirates have a different objective.

Office of Naval Intelligence

Sea Marshals provide a slow vessel escort service that could be of interest to a select few.

[JeanneP]

Yeah, Indonesia has been supplying pirates to the area for a long time, but they are, indeed, a different animal. Mostly they board anchored commercial ships to rob and loot. Rarely do they hijack a ship. And they don't usually have weapons (I've never heard of, or read of, an armed boarding, but I'm not that familiar anymore with SE Asia cruising/shipping activity). 'Way different from the dangers of Somalia pirates now that they will attack anything they can.

It seems that nowadays commercial vessels are traveling in convoys with armed guards aboard. I would think that is a major factor in the decrease in GOA piracy reports, no? Boarding a monster commercial carrier at sea takes a lot more effort than boarding a yacht. And the crews to keep a 24-hour watch for pirates on a commercial carrier are bigger than what a yacht would be able to maintain. If it were me, I'd either go via South Africa or ship my boat. Diff'rent strokes and all that.

[Trim50]

Originally Posted by JeanneP

Diff'rent strokes and all that.

Yes, a select few will be interested...no doubt.