Protecting Vessel Crew From Armed Dock Robbery

On the night of April 12, 2026, approximately twelve armed men boarded the cargo vessel Sea Elizabeth II at the Port of Spain waterfront and systematically robbed crew members at gunpoint and at bladepoint, making off with electronics, jewellery, navigational equipment, gas tanks, an inflatable dinghy, and a small boat engine collectively valued at well over $70,000. The attackers arrived by pirogue, boarded from the waterline, overpowered the captain and crew through force of numbers and weapons, and escaped back into the Gulf of Paria before any response arrived. Vessels moored in Trinidad’s commercial and public waterfront areas are accessible from the water on all sides, are not uniformly monitored by port security, and offer criminals an approach route that bypasses the road-facing security that most dock operators prioritise. A docked vessel with a sleeping or unalerted crew is as exposed as a locked building with its perimeter unguarded — the structural barrier slows entry but does not prevent it when the approach is fast and overwhelming.

Steps to follow:

• Never allow all crew members to sleep simultaneously while your vessel is moored in a public, commercial, or unfamiliar dock; assign a rotating night watch schedule with clear responsibility for monitoring the waterline and any vessel or pirogue approaching within 50 metres.
• Maintain a fully charged VHF radio on Channel 16 at all times when docked; this is the emergency hailing frequency monitored by the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and allows an immediate distress broadcast if boarding is attempted.
• Register your mooring location, vessel name, and expected stay with the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago and the TTPS Marine Branch before docking overnight; a vessel with a notified presence and a contact schedule is harder to rob without consequence.
• Install motion-triggered lighting along the hull and boarding side of your vessel; sudden illumination on approach discourages boarders and immediately alerts the watch crew to movement at the waterline.
• If armed individuals board your vessel, do not resist — comply with all demands, ensure crew members move away from weapons or tools that could be perceived as threats, and get a crew member ashore or to a phone as soon as any safe opportunity arises to contact 999 or the Coast Guard.
• After any robbery or suspicious approach, report the incident to the Port Authority, the TTPS, and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard with the time, direction of approach, description of any vessel used, and the direction of escape; early reporting of pirogue activity in the Gulf of Paria gives the Coast Guard the best window to intercept.