Gulf of Aden Convoys

Yacht convoys are now believed to be a bad idea. They are unwieldy to manage and pose a more visible and attractive target to pirates. The military presence in the area (two different missions, one managed by NATO and one by the EU) discourage anything more than a couple or three boats traveling “together”.

Tom Sampson, who organized a 27 boat convoy in January 2010 through GOA, comments;

“The need for a convoy as an added form of security against piracy attacks is questionable. When the convoy of 2010 became so large (never intended) then it was hoped that coalition forces might offer some assistance – which they did not. I would not advocate the use of a large convoy and a convoy of any size would not provide security against pirates. However, it would offer mutual support between those in the convoy but this, of course, would apply to any passage of any duration”.

Roger Hill of SY Equanimity organized a 3 boat convoy with a security team onboard each boat from the Maldives to Sudan in April 2015. Read his report here.