Island Crime: Dinghy Theft Surges at BVI, Burglary Spree at St. Martin (Video)
Victims Decry Lack of Police Response
Two disturbing crime trends are underway in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean—and not the usual hotspots in the southern islands of the archipelago, but at the British Virgin Islands and Saint-Martin.
Saint Martin is a divided island governed by France in the North and the Netherlands in the south. They share a lagoon accessible through both jurisdictions, which makes a fine natural harbor that foreign cruisers find attractive.
These cruisers have reported seven break-ins and attempted break-ins over a recent seven-day period. The thieves are brazen, and authorities are unresponsive, according to the victims.
BVI, meanwhile, had been comparative free of dinghy thefts, a daily occurrence down in more southerly islands of the Antilles. Not any more. So far this year, the Caribbean Safety and Security Net has reports of 19 dinghy/outboard motor thefts from BVI anchorages.
CSSN Releases 2023 Report on Caribbean Yacht Crime
The Caribbean Safety and Security Net’s annual report for 2023 provides details and analysis of reported crimes against yachts in the Caribbean for 2023. Overall reported crimes decreased substantially from 2022 to levels similar to long term averages. However, there was a significant change in the nature of reported crimes. Violent crimes rose significantly both in proportion and in an absolute sense, and these crimes were spread more broadly geographically across the region.
BVI are one of the great charter-boat hubs of the world, and, as it happens, dinghy thievery can hit charter customers as hard in the wallet as it does when conventional cruising owners are the victims.
First a report from SXM, the airport-identifier for Saint-Martin, in which cruiser Maciek Winzniowski described the situation in a Facebook post, which included the video below:
Ongoing unchecked crime spree in SXM. We ourselves had two attempted boardings on our first night here…Multiple boats hit, and this has been going on every single night so far. Some boats were boarded twice in a single weekend. Police nor CG don't want to come or talk to anyone, no patrols or follow up. Open sugar-scoop type boats are targeted. Non-violent this far, but brazen—perpetrators often come back later to the boats they were already confronted at.
SXM trade groups start responding with PR BS about "swift and coordinated response"—a galling statement. We tried everyone, all emergency numbers and VHF. All authorities hiding one behind another while the robberies and boardings continued unchallenged all weekend. Not one patrol boat was sent to anyone targeted this weekend. No wonder the thieves are brazen, continue the spree and are calmly coming back for a second shot at the boat.
Boats, especially catamarans inside the lagoon are being hit the most, but even property and dinghies in the marinas are being stolen. Both sides of the lagoon are unsafe. Perpetrators are thought to be coming from Sandy Ground from the French side, but are boarding boats on both sides, even the ones on the moorings right in front of the dutch coast guard, some, again, multiple times. Cash, phones, tablets and laptops stolen.
The police refusing to even talk or make even a customary show of taking the report is new. SXM is such an important hub, what the hell, French police?
The rise in dinghy thievery in BVI had already caught the attention of police and local local news media back in the summer, when this article was posted by bviNews.com. The article quoted police suggesting that owners apply distinctive markings to their inflatables and hide trackers aboard.
Kim White, who manages the Caribbean Safety and Security Net with a team of volunteers, warned against reliance of trackers in a response on Facebook:
Please don't count on trackers to help you find/recover your dinghy. Thieves are onto this and know where to look for them, and in some jurisdictions police will still need a search warrant. Many will not want to go to the trouble for "a tourist". Their range is small when you don't know where to look. Some are satellite based, much more expensive and really do act as tracking devices. So get into the details. best plan is to prevent the theft in the first place. Lifting and locking (overnight) locking at docks is a safe standard in most parts of the Caribbean. Check out the CSSN site to get a sense of how often this happens.
She was responding to a post on the BVI Charter Chat Facebook Group, in which charter customer Robert Dilmore announced he had been assessed $8,000 after the dinghy that came with his charter boat had been stolen.
Apparently, it doesn’t matter how much of an effort a charter customer has made to prevent theft—raising the dinghy onto davits and locking to the boat with a chain at night—they can be responsible for the loss nonetheless, according to Jack Law:
I talked to three of the prominent companies. All said that the charter client is responsible for the dinghy, locked or not. The client will have to pay the insurance deductible, which ranged from $1,500 to $3,500 at these companies. Definitely check with your charter operator.
One of those companies that Law consulted was surely The Moorings, the biggest charter company in the Caribbean. Loose Cannon reached out to Peter Cochran via email for more information, but he has not responded. Cochran is vice-president of operations for The Moorings.
The longstanding problems with dinghy theft in places such as St. Vincent and the Grenadines are well documented and spawned a raft of advice from veteran cruisers and marine journalists. Way back in October 2017, Caribbean Compass magazine ran a story headlined “Lock It or Loose It,” which laid out some guidelines for preventing theft.
So far, dinghy theft does not appear to as much of an issue for the Greater Antilles—Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Nor is it common in the Bahamas, an island nation that is not part of the Caribbean, but grouped with those islands under the catagory of “West Indies.”
Maybe if cruisers and charter customers stop going to these places and spending their money, the honest locals will light a fire under the ass of the pertinent authorities.
They are left with hopes and prayers since they can defend neither themselves or their property and the Calvary ain’t coming