Dispatches From The Pirate Coast

No, the headline for this post is not the title of the next Disney movie starring Johnny Depp. Instead it is a description of the latest round of dispatches on Jon Bowermaster’s website, as his friend Dennis Cornejo, a filmmaker and marine biologist, travels through pirate infested waters off the coast of Somalia while running a passenger vessel, devoid of passengers from Tanzania to Egypt.

When the ship set out, Dennis thought it sounded like a good idea of he stayed on board to get caught up on a backlog of work while it slowly made its way up the East African coastline. That was before the increased pirate activity following the dramatic rescue of Captain Richard Phillips by Navy Seals a few weeks. Now the entire region is buzzing with activity, and Dennis sailed right into it just a few days back.

So far there have been three daily reports from the Pirate Coast. On Day 1, Dennis writes about the preparations the ship has made to combat any pirates who may see it as a potential target for highjacking. He also talks about possible security measures that would be taken should a pirate attack occur.

On Day 2, he gives another update, noting that everyone was on edge, waiting for something to occur. There is a security team onboard to try to protect the vessel and make sure that everything goes as it should, and it is interesting to hear the measures that they are taking to remain safe and undetected.

Today is Day 3 and the ship is actually running a course that is close to the Somali coastline, which seems like it would be the scariest place to be, but according to Dennis, the Captain showed him a map that indicated that most of the attacks actually occur further from land, and they are making better time through the region by following the coast.

It’ll be a few more days until the ship is completely out of danger, but so far so good. Be sure to check out Jon’s blog for updates tomorrow to make sure everything is going as planned.

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Kraig Becker

Kraig is an outdoor and adventure travel writer based in Nashville, TN. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to numerous online and print outlets, including Popular Mechanics, Gear Junkie, Outside Online, National Geographic, Digital Trends, Business Insider, TripSavvy, about.com, and of course The Adventure Blog.