Doggone Pirates
I was on the radio again this weekend to promote the new edition of my charter book, Dream Cruises. This time it was a station that simulcasts in Montreal and Toronto, which I thought might be a little different than the stations I’ve been on so far in the United States. But about halfway into the interview, as seems to be a pattern with these things, the host got a call from a listener who was worried that charter yachts get attacked by pirates.
Honestly, I do not know where this belief comes from, or why it has so permeated the general consciousness. From what I can tell, most people are unaware of yacht charter as a vacation option, but the first thing they think about when I start discussing charter is the fact that pirates are a safety concern.
I’ve heard a few reputable charter brokers lament this problem over the years with new clients, as well. One even went so far as to suggest that I write an article about pirates here on CharterWave, just so that readers will know they are not out there stalking charter yachts on the world’s waters.
That’s the truth: Pirates really aren’t a concern with yacht charter. I’ve heard only a handful–and I do mean two or three at the most–stories about criminals going after charter yachts in the past decade, and the attacks typically took place when yachts were transiting non-vacation waters without guests aboard. One example is a yacht that was in the South China Sea as it moved from one charter area to another. And nobody was hurt in that incident.
Put simply, charter yachts just aren’t a good target for pirates. Criminals aren’t stupid. They want the expensive haul, the big booty, and that means commercial ships loaded down with major cargo and minimal crew. It doesn’t mean a 50-foot sailboat with a family going snorkeling in SpongeBob SquarePants bathing suits.
So for the record, piracy is not a major concern when dealing with charter yachts. I suppose I will reluctantly be reminding people of this a few times a week now as my radio interviews continue.