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Typhoon slams Chuuk, on track to hit Yap harder
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I was a bit surprised that the looters acted so quickly, they were swimming out to the Odyssey while the typhoon was still raging! But apparently the looting and criminal behavior is a common practice, even where there is no typhoon to serve as an excuse. Not only is the practice sanctioned by the police, from the account below from a couple of years ago, it appears that the police are the ringleaders!
I know that there are 2 sides to every story, and I recognize that crime and corruption occur all over the world, but it certainly seems to be widespread in Chuuk. After reading this I am not surprised that the crooks would burn the boat, they clearly didn't need to hide the evidence so it was probably just out of spite.
https://www.facebook.com/kimball.corson/posts/731677813524858
Kimball Corson
October 7, 2013 · Pago Pago ·
Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia - Boat Seized, Captain Beaten & Jailed
by Captain Bob Bohn and Andy Turpin, Managing Editor, Latitude 38 Magazine
C'est La Vie is an Amel Mango 52
Captain Bob Bohn and Crew Hilda
Boat Seized and Destroyed by Police for no reason
Two days after clearing into Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon in the Federated States
of Micronesia, my boat was boarded by the Chuuk State Police. They hit
me in the face, dragged me down the deck, and threw me into their boat.
They took my boat papers and passport, arrested me and my crew Hilda
from the Solomon Islands, and put us in jail without any charges.
After 24 hours, I demanded to see a judge. Two hours later the judge
ordered us released and asked the police why they weren't helping us. I
flew Hilda out of the country immediately.
Three days after being arrested, I returned to the scene to find that
despite the fact that my boat was supposedly being looked after, the
anchor chain had slipped and she was hard on a reef. Furthermore,
everything, including solar panels, dinghy, outboard, generator, kayak and fuel cans had been taken from the boat. Five police, who were removing all
the valuables from below, prevented me from getting any closer to my
boat than 100 feet.
In the course of a month, I was never allowed to board my boat again,
despite court orders saying I could. The last time I tried to get on my
boat, she was being guarded by a policeman in my kayak! Worst of all,
by that time she was on the reef. The last time I saw her, she was
banging on the reef so hard that the radar was knocked off the mizzen.
After nearly a month, the public defender representing me advised me to
heed the death threats I'd been getting and to leave the island
immediately. By that time I'd burned through my cruising kitty on
expenses and fighting to get my boat back. The police arrested me one
last time before I left the island, just to show that they could.
From a short time after we were first arrested, I contacted and kept in
contact with the U.S. Coast Guard in Guam, the U.S. embassy in Pohnpei,
and a law firm. Everyone expressed an interest in my situation, but
there was nothing anybody could really do.
The Director of Tourism for Chuuk tried to persuade me not to tell my
story, but I feel it's important that cruisers know about the dangers of
going to Chuuk. I was told by others on Chuuk, and later by officials on
Guam, that it's not uncommon for boats to be seized in Chuuk, and that
the level of crime is very high.
Five attorneys have told me I could easily win my case in court.
Unfortunately, it would be very expensive and the Federated States of
Micronesia doesn't have the money to pay any award/settlement.
My main message to cruisers is to avoid Chuuk Lagoon! If you insist on
sailing there, go as part of a group of boats, not alone as we did. We
were seen as rich yachties and thus an easy target for plunder.
This incident was in contrast to the wonderful time I had been having in
the South Pacific when I did Tahiti, the Cooks, Suvarrow and the Samoas, and hauled the boat in Fiji for the hurricane season. People were wonderful. I then did Vanuatu and the Solomons. Hilda and I then headed for 1,700-mile-distant Guam. After 1,200 miles, we made the unfortunate decision to stop for provisions at Chuuk, which used to be the South Pacific base for the Japanese Empire during World War II.
I only had liability insurance, so I lost everything. But I have a good
pension from doing bomb disposal work in the Navy, so I expect to be cruising again in another couple of years.
I know that there are 2 sides to every story, and I recognize that crime and corruption occur all over the world, but it certainly seems to be widespread in Chuuk. After reading this I am not surprised that the crooks would burn the boat, they clearly didn't need to hide the evidence so it was probably just out of spite.
https://www.facebook.com/kimball.corson/posts/731677813524858
Kimball Corson
October 7, 2013 · Pago Pago ·
Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia - Boat Seized, Captain Beaten & Jailed
by Captain Bob Bohn and Andy Turpin, Managing Editor, Latitude 38 Magazine
C'est La Vie is an Amel Mango 52
Captain Bob Bohn and Crew Hilda
Boat Seized and Destroyed by Police for no reason
Two days after clearing into Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon in the Federated States
of Micronesia, my boat was boarded by the Chuuk State Police. They hit
me in the face, dragged me down the deck, and threw me into their boat.
They took my boat papers and passport, arrested me and my crew Hilda
from the Solomon Islands, and put us in jail without any charges.
After 24 hours, I demanded to see a judge. Two hours later the judge
ordered us released and asked the police why they weren't helping us. I
flew Hilda out of the country immediately.
Three days after being arrested, I returned to the scene to find that
despite the fact that my boat was supposedly being looked after, the
anchor chain had slipped and she was hard on a reef. Furthermore,
everything, including solar panels, dinghy, outboard, generator, kayak and fuel cans had been taken from the boat. Five police, who were removing all
the valuables from below, prevented me from getting any closer to my
boat than 100 feet.
In the course of a month, I was never allowed to board my boat again,
despite court orders saying I could. The last time I tried to get on my
boat, she was being guarded by a policeman in my kayak! Worst of all,
by that time she was on the reef. The last time I saw her, she was
banging on the reef so hard that the radar was knocked off the mizzen.
After nearly a month, the public defender representing me advised me to
heed the death threats I'd been getting and to leave the island
immediately. By that time I'd burned through my cruising kitty on
expenses and fighting to get my boat back. The police arrested me one
last time before I left the island, just to show that they could.
From a short time after we were first arrested, I contacted and kept in
contact with the U.S. Coast Guard in Guam, the U.S. embassy in Pohnpei,
and a law firm. Everyone expressed an interest in my situation, but
there was nothing anybody could really do.
The Director of Tourism for Chuuk tried to persuade me not to tell my
story, but I feel it's important that cruisers know about the dangers of
going to Chuuk. I was told by others on Chuuk, and later by officials on
Guam, that it's not uncommon for boats to be seized in Chuuk, and that
the level of crime is very high.
Five attorneys have told me I could easily win my case in court.
Unfortunately, it would be very expensive and the Federated States of
Micronesia doesn't have the money to pay any award/settlement.
My main message to cruisers is to avoid Chuuk Lagoon! If you insist on
sailing there, go as part of a group of boats, not alone as we did. We
were seen as rich yachties and thus an easy target for plunder.
This incident was in contrast to the wonderful time I had been having in
the South Pacific when I did Tahiti, the Cooks, Suvarrow and the Samoas, and hauled the boat in Fiji for the hurricane season. People were wonderful. I then did Vanuatu and the Solomons. Hilda and I then headed for 1,700-mile-distant Guam. After 1,200 miles, we made the unfortunate decision to stop for provisions at Chuuk, which used to be the South Pacific base for the Japanese Empire during World War II.
I only had liability insurance, so I lost everything. But I have a good
pension from doing bomb disposal work in the Navy, so I expect to be cruising again in another couple of years.
Last edited:
diver 85
Contributor
"They" are not against the dive industry, there are just a lot of sh!t heads I ran into on the island during and after the storm.
Problem???--they've been watching too much US CNN feeds & watching 'our ferels' do their thing...........
scubafanatic
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On wonders if there would be less hostility to tourists if Chuuk had a substantial tourist tax to help 'redistribute' income to the local economy ? Given the socio-demographic profile of travelers to Chuuk, it would be easy to slap tourists with a fee or tax of some sort....say, $ 1000 US 'a head', for example, which would underline/emphasize the economic benefits of tourism and maybe spread the $ around a bit more vs having it all concentrated into the dive ops/crews ?
diver 85
Contributor
(IF--- I read you right)----@ a tax of a thousand bucks a head, you'd never see my diving butt on that island...... no way,......jose....
EDIT....lol, please tell me you're jokin'........There's a difference in putting a hand out to help someone-vs-giving a handout & them therefore having a sense of entitlement....
I think that you have hit on something with your comment about "entitlement". That seems to be the mindset of the criminals. It as if they are saying "this valuable property really should belong to us anyway - so we are going to take it - and destroy whatever we can't take with us so that you can't have it!"
Egovenatus said that the thieves were demanding gas money for the dingy that they had stolen, and the boat captain in the article above said that they were using his own kayak to keep him away from his boat! That sounds like entitlement to me!
After learning about the recent unpleasant experiences of Americans and other visitors to Chuuk, I agree with Diver 85 because "they'll never see my diving butt on that island" either - with or without a $1,000 tourist tax!
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You're trying to apply logic to a situation where logic doesn't seem to apply.
They may have a short term gain from the gear they looted, but this news is spreading far and wide, even outside the dive community. My parents, neither of whom are divers, rang me up to check if I knew about this because they'd seen something about it in the news here in Australia. They, as well as other divers, have been actively encouraging me to cancel my travel plans. Personally I won't be, but by the same token, it makes me wonder how much damage this incident is going to do to the general economy in Chuuk in the longer term. A few people may have benefited from the looting in the immediate aftermath, but that's going to have longer term consequences for the local community. They probably didn't think that far ahead.
---------- Post added April 19th, 2015 at 11:09 AM ----------
That'd be me out as well. I don't mind paying $100 or so for a national park permit or whatever, but $1000? Nuh-uh. Not going to happen.
Divers who are lucky enough to be able to go to Chuuk might be more well off than your average punter, but that doesn't make us all rich by any means.
I think the reality is that Chuuk is a small economy, and heavily reliant on dive tourism for employment and income. Even so, the industry isn't big enough on its own to provide employment to everyone, or to provide enough income for the government to help everyone. If they started charging obscene amounts in tourist tax to try and do this, I suspect they'd find that tourist numbers would drop, leaving them in a much worse situation than they were in originally. I think it's unrealistic to expect the dive community to prop up the entire state's economy, which is effectively what you're suggesting. Yes, I'm sympathetic to the local community who aren't benefiting from the dive industry in Chuuk, but that doesn't excuse incidents like this, and nor do I see it as my responsibility to resolve.
I think it's good that the word is getting out. I was wondering why this commonplace criminal activity was a such surprise and asked myself "Why hasn't the US State Department warned citizens?" But they have (see below) although I think that the warnings could be stronger.
I feel sympathy for the honest, hard-working folks of Chuuk who will suffer both from the aftermath of the typhoon and because of the damage to the tourist industry caused by the criminals, but as WetPup has said - there's no excuse.
Federated States of Micronesia
Last Updated: September 23, 2014
CRIME: Throughout the FSM, foreigners have reportedly been subjected to and singled out for theft and verbal and physical abuse. Alcohol- and drug-related attacks, as well as drunk driving accidents, are a particular concern during weekend and evening hours. Sexual assaults do occur, but your risk can be reduced if you take basic security precautions. The Embassy encourages extra caution during the holidays, when alcohol consumption is especially high. Do not attempt to intervene in disputes between local citizens. Some U.S. citizens report that local police appear to be less responsive to a victim’s concerns compared to the procedures in the United States, particularly in cases involving burglaries.
Dress conservatively. It is considered impolite for females to wear clothing that exposes anything above the knee. Modern swimwear may be considered immodest by local standards, and people wearing such clothing outside of hotels that cater to tourists could likely be harassed. Additionally, we suggest women travel in groups and walk in well-lit areas.
Crime rates are higher in Chuuk than in the other states; you should exercise extreme caution at all times, stay off the streets after dark, and ensure that the hotel where you are staying is prepared to assist you in an emergency.
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The travel advice from Australia is pretty much the same as the US.
The UK is a little more up to date, but still not particularly strong.
Honestly, I was stuck in Abuja in Nigeria last year, on my own, as a female, when that whole Boko Haram schoolgirl kidnapping stuff blew up. I'm not especially concerned about my personal safety in Chuuk, even if, yet again, I'm travelling as a female on my own. I always end up meeting people on dive trips to hang out with. I'm more concerned about my dive gear or camera gear disappearing. While I've got insurance and it can all be replaced, that's kind of not the point. Travel insurance is an absolute nightmare to deal with (I had my dive bag go missing somewhere on the flight route on the way home from a liveaboard trip a few years ago).
The UK is a little more up to date, but still not particularly strong.
Honestly, I was stuck in Abuja in Nigeria last year, on my own, as a female, when that whole Boko Haram schoolgirl kidnapping stuff blew up. I'm not especially concerned about my personal safety in Chuuk, even if, yet again, I'm travelling as a female on my own. I always end up meeting people on dive trips to hang out with. I'm more concerned about my dive gear or camera gear disappearing. While I've got insurance and it can all be replaced, that's kind of not the point. Travel insurance is an absolute nightmare to deal with (I had my dive bag go missing somewhere on the flight route on the way home from a liveaboard trip a few years ago).
