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.