At approximately 1500hrs (local time) on Tuesday 1st July 2008, the sailing yacht “Naxos” was boarded by six heavily armed pirates NNE of Cacao off the northern coast of Venezuela (10 46.41N 62 16.80W).

None of the three crew aboard the yacht were physically injured during the encounter, however, the yacht was ransacked and everything of any value was stolen. The pirates took cash, jewelry, computers, radios, satellite phone, cell phones, EPIRB, outboard motor, AC unit, food, clothing, bedding, and other items.

“Naxos” was approached from behind by a very fast pirogue-type open fishing boat. Although the boat was not far from a harbor, the attackers came alongside and asked for water. When the captain of “Naxos” attempted to pass a water container to them, he was immediately facing 6 guns (5 x 9mm automatic pistols and 1 x semi-automatic rifle).

The attackers made no effort to hide either their own identity or that of the attacking vessel. The attacking vessel was an open pirogue-type fishing boat with four Yamaha 75hp outboard motors. The hull was mostly dark green with a wide turquoise stripe over and a narrow red stripe separating the green from the turquoise. The boat displays the name “Amguna” on the stern and “Moss” on the bow.

Please make this information available to all cruisers so that they can make informed decisions about whether or not they cruise in this area. I for one will be giving the coast of Venezuela a very large offing in the future.

Peter Scott

Captain S.V. Naxos