The yacht arrived back at Linton Bay at 2200 HRS.
The crew activated DSC and called pan pan on VHF but had NO response. They noticed their EPIRB blinking in the water near shore, apparently it had been dropped in the water and self-activated. They upped anchor to return to Linton Bay. Finally, certain the men had departed the crew exited the cabin and untied the captain. Once they had collected all things of value all 6 men departed in their boat. Two of the men forced the crew member back into a cabin and indicated they intended to rape her, but the leader prevented this. Some of the men appeared to be high on drugs, and were only marginally under the control of the armed leader. Several of the items were well concealed.
For 45 minutes the men ransacked and inspected every space in the yacht, stealing cash, credit cards, phones, cameras and video equipment, laptops, a drone, EPIRB, etc. The crew decided the cabin would not remain safe and decided to cooperate fully and came out of the cabin. The leader held a semiautomatic handgun to the captain’s head. There were now 6 men onboard, with their faces concealed by t-shirts. He had alerted his crew and she had locked herself into a cabin. Immediately a boat with 4 other men arrived and the captain was held at gunpoint, and then forced back down into the cabin. The captain went up to the cockpit and was ambushed and then restrained by 2 swimmers who had boarded and concealed themselves behind opposite sides of the spray hood. They were down below and surprised just after sunset at 1930 HRS by noise on deck. The crew planned to lock themselves in securely for the night. The necessary repairs were completed but the hour was late and entering the San Blas in the dark was not an option. Engine issues caused the yacht to make an unplanned stop in Bahia Nombre de Dios, where no other boats were anchored. No investigators communicated or arrived and the yacht departed.Ī monohull with 2 persons on board departed Linton Bay, Panama for the San Blas islands. A passing Coast Guard boat (unaware of what had happened) was hailed down, and they explained that only the police could conduct the required onboard forensics investigation. The police indicated that a forensics investigator would visit the yacht later that day, which did not happen. A complete police report was made the next morning (Monday) with the assistance of a friend/translator on a yacht anchored nearby in this popular anchorage off St. Also missing was a backpack which had contained miscellaneous items including a headlamp and wallet (cash, credit cards, passports, identity documents). The theft was discovered in the early morning Sunday when the crew member attempted to find the phone. The boarder/thief entered through the fully open salon door. One crew member was sleeping in the unlit cockpit, another in a cabin below. The first occurred in July 2019, and the most recent less than a week prior.Ī catamaran anchored surrounded by 50+ yachts in the area near Ross point was boarded overnight while owners slept onboard. CSSN NOTE: There have been similar incidents reported in this same bay in the recent past. The Panamanian police began their investigation and have made 6 arrests as of 12 November 2019. Reports were made to the police, CG, port captain, and the home country consular officials contacted. The women were taken to the hospital for evaluation/treatment. After the robbers departed the crew was able to remove their restraints and they returned to Linton Bay and berthed at the marina. The crew was restrained and for approximately 45 minutes the men stole everything they could - cash, personal devices, boat electronics and gear, clothing, liquor and cigarettes. The men concealed their faces and had hand guns (1 semi-automatic and a revolver) and knives. At about 19:00 HRS, just after dark they were approached and overrun by 8 men who arrived in 3-4 pangas (engineless boats). There were no other yachts present in the bay. A monohull sailing yacht with 4 men and 2 women onboard departed Linton Bay and due to unfavorable conditions made an unplanned stop in Bahia Nombre de Dios, anchoring there at about 13:00 HRS. The victims made contact with CSSN and provided additional details about the event.
UPDATED REPORT: This report replaces our prior preliminary report.
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