Article and New Broadcast by Fox News - How To Survive a Pirate Attack featuring Travel Security Expert, Philip Farina of Farina and Associates, Ltd.

1. How to Survive a Pirate Attack - FoxNews.com http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/03/07/survive-pirate-attack/print
Print Close
By Paul Eisenberg
Published March 07, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Pirates hijacked 53 ships and held a total of
1,181 hostages for ransom last year,
according to the International Maritime
Bureau. Forty nine of those ships and 1,016
of those hostages – from commercial and
private vessels -- were seized by pirates off
the coast of Somalia, a statistic that was
brought into sharp relief last month when
Somali pirates hijacked a yacht and on Feb.
22 murdered the four Americans aboard. Two
days later, a Danish family, including three
children, was taken from their yacht by
Somali pirates and as of this writing had
been moved to a larger pirate vessel off the ADVERTISEMENT
Somali Coast.
These very unfortunate events and statistics are renewing and raising awareness about Somali
piracy, and many piracy experts echo the advice of Amb. David H. Shinn, former U.S.
ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, who notes that “leisure travelers have no business
going into the Western Indian Ocean until the crisis caused by Somali pirates has ended.”
The International Maritime Bureau also reports that there were 445 pirate attacks worldwide last
year, underscoring that piracy is not just a Somali problem. “Hostile boardings happen all over
the world,” especially in South Asia, the Caribbean, and even off the coast of Florida,” says
Charles Clifton, founder and director of non-profit security company Humanitarian Defense. “If
you are not prepared to fight, or have people with you that are, risky voyages should not be
attempted.”
However, “some pirates come on board just to steal things,” says Capt. James K. Staples, a
Master Mariner and U.S. Merchant Marine. “They’re basically thieves, not holding people for
ransom, but if you a catch a thief in the act, don’t resist him. Given the fact that he is a
desperate person to begin with, if he wants something that’s replaceable, let him take it.
Everything on that boat is replaceable, including the boat.” Here now, more advice from maritime
and survival experts about surviving a pirate attack.
Be a harder target
Prior to sailing anywhere you must “understand the situation you are facing,” says Clifton.
“Research trends and hotspots where piracy and other criminal activity may be occurring. Then
avoid them. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) piracy map is a good resource for
this.” Adds safety expert Randy Spivey, who ran hostage survival training programs for the
Department of Defense, “the best way to survive a hostage situation or act of piracy is never to
get into it. People need to understand the risk factors of the locations that they’re going to travel
to,” noting that the Overseas Security Advisory Counsel (OSAC) can yield “real-time information
on risk factors.”
When you’re in port, it pays to “get all local knowledge you can from local captains, the port
captains office, [and] from marina staff” about potential piracy problems along your route and the
port itself, says former Navy SEAL Team officer Matt Bracken, noting that protecting yourself
“starts with local awareness, talking to other skippers, and always listening for reports of things
being stolen or pilfered.”
While many travelers associate piracy with being boarded on the open sea, Bracken says the
“biggest danger is being attacked at anchor,” noting that since marinas may cost upwards of $50
a night for docking, many seafarers will “anchor out” up to a half mile from shore. And even if you
don’t consider yourself wealthy, Bracken says, the very fact that you have a boat may make you
come across that way to a pirate. “When people anchor out they think, ‘I’m not rich,’ [but to]
people watching me from shore, I’m Bill Gates.” Make your boat a harder target, he says. Secure
1 of 3 3/9/2011 5:10 PM

2. How to Survive a Pirate Attack - FoxNews.com http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/03/07/survive-pirate-attack/print
your boat’s dinghy with a steel cable as “someone coming from shore won’t necessarily bring a
bolt cutter.” Also, he suggests, cruise in groups or with at least one other boat so you can take
turns having a person on watch at all times.
If pirates approach you
While piloting his 48-foot steel sailing cutter between Panama and Hawaii, Bracken had a
150-foot steel ship fall in behind him, which he knew felt all wrong. While he had real weapons on
board, he broke out a black spray-painted plywood M-16, which he constructed at 1.2 times
scale so that “it looks bigger and more threatening than a real one.” He adds that at 400 to 500
yards if pirates are “binocularing you and they see someone producing a weapon at that range,
they know there is a risk of getting shot.” The vessel trailing Bracken “finally turned away and
went somewhere else.”
Naval officer turned professor Harold J. Kearsley had a similar experience in the mid-80s while
sailing from the UK on a route that among other locales took him to the Canary Islands, Antigua,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the coast guard warned him that it was not prudent to stop at
various islands within the Bahamas. Kearsley complied, but while off one of the central islands
he was “approached by a speed boat. It looked pretty aggressive. I can’t tell you categorically
they were pirates” but he soon broke out a Mini-14 semi automatic assault rifle and a muzzle-
loading powder rifle, making sure they "were prominently displayed on deck.” There was no
confrontation.
If you’re not trained or inclined to use guns, you should still be armed with situational awareness,
says Air Force veteran and SERE (Search, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) school instructor
Cameron Gamble.”If you see a small white boat coming toward [your boat] with three skinny
objects in it, “whether it’s a threat or not I have to treat it as such. I’m putting out a radio call,”
adding that “before these guys actually reach me, the most lifesaving thing that’s going to take
place is not necessarily a radio call or securing [valuables] on board, but being mentally prepared
for what’s about to happen.”
If you’re boarded by pirates
Part of your mental preparation upon first contact with pirates is avoiding “capture shock,”
Gamble says, taking yourself through three steps: “who has me, what do they want, and how far
are they willing to go to get it? If my assessment is that these guys are coming on board and
killing every single person they’re coming in contact with, I need to flee,” but “if all these guys
want is to take the ship and need a mode of transportation, I’m just going to ride it out.”
Spivey likewise has a three-step strategy: the three C’s -- calm, connect, and capitalize. “You
want to be a calming influence, maintain your composure, and don’t do anything to escalate the
tension. If they say don’t look at them, don’t look at them,” which may stop you from getting to
the next two steps at first, though Spivey suggests that even if the first hours of captivity are
hostile, your captors may become bored and thus receptive enough for you to try the next two
steps. By connecting, “you want to make yourself appear as a person, not an object. Find a
common interest. A lot of times people will talk about family. What you’re trying to do is reverse
the Stockholm Syndrome – it is easier to kill an object than a person.” During the capitalization
stage, Spivey says, encourage your captors “to seek and find a peaceful resolution. Even if
things look like they are not going well, make statements like ‘I’m sure it’s going to work out’ or
‘I’m sure it’s going to be okay.” And unless you’re certain you can discuss politics, religion, and
economics to useful conversational ends, most sources say, pick other topics.
If you’re on a cruise
Staples says that many cruise ships nowadays “have good security aboard -- there is armed
security aboard most cruise ships that’s not advertised.” However, cruise ship passengers are
still susceptible to risk and “it’s a whole different scenario if the pirates physically have control of
you versus their being on board and you being [locked] in your stateroom,” says board-certified
travel security expert Philip Farina, CPP, as your chances of being harmed diminish, particularly
if there is crossfire during a rescue.
“If you come face to face with a pirate, don’t resist,” Farina says, though he adds that that might
not be your first instinct. “It’s tough to tell someone that they need to make a life-threatening or
life -changing action at that moment because it’s different for each person. One person may
decide to put their hands up, some people might freeze, or they may not be cognizant or able to
respond. And on the other side are the people who want to fight – and as humans we have all
three pieces within us --fight, flight, or freeze.”
2 of 3 3/9/2011 5:10 PM

3. How to Survive a Pirate Attack - FoxNews.com http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/03/07/survive-pirate-attack/print
Farina posits more scenarios. “If I’m walking down a gangplank and a pirate comes around the
corner, what am I going to do? If a pirate doesn’t have a firearm and is just speaking to me
loudly, what do I do? If they have a firearm and are walking in the opposite direction from where I
came, and I look and see they are distracted, do I retreat to the stairwell or try to take the gun?
There is no right answer, particularly for that last one. “If you have the opportunity to be
proactive, meaning taking a moment to think and the situation is bad, you will make whatever
decision is the best for you at that moment. Your best choice might be to turn around and wrestle
with that pirate and be injured, but the fact that you’ve done that may permit other passengers to
escape. So that’s a tough call. So much of that comes down to the individual and who they are
personally and depends on the situations.”
Click here for more from FoxNews.com Travel
Print Close
URL
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/03/07/survive-pirate-attack/
Home U.S. World Politics Health Business SciTech Entertainment Video Opinion Sports Leisure
Careers Internships - FNCU Fox Around the World RSS Feeds
Advertise With Us Terms of Use Privacy Policy Contact Us Email Newsroom Topics
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. © 2011 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market
data delayed 20 minutes.
3 of 3 3/9/2011 5:10 PM