Customer Reviews

Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas

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_Dangerous Waters_ is an excellent book by John S. Burnett, a revelatory work that showed me a whole new world I had little idea existed, the world of modern pirates. Pirates are unfortunately thought of as dashing romantic figures of the earlier centuries, perhaps a threat during the age of sail or suitable for a Hollywood movie, but not a threat today. Burnett contradicts this stereotype, showing that pirates are alive and well in the 21st century, a threat to everything from the lives of sailors at sea to quite possibly international security, with 335 assaults worldwide and 241 seafarers killed, held hostage, or wounded in 2001. Indeed attacks are up 400 percent since 1992, with over 2000 sailors having been taken hostage in the ten years from 1992-2002.

The pirates today are a mixed bunch and can be found all over the world and can be anyone from a highly trained guerilla warrior to a rogue military unit (such as in Indonesia) to part of an international criminal gang or cartel. Pirates might also be part of international terrorist organizations (particularly Abu Sayaf out of the Philippines, which has strong links to Al-Qaeda as well as Asian crime syndicates and the heroin trade) or even simply local down-and-out fishermen who see a rich prize steaming by and can't resist (he states that poverty has driven many to piracy in the Caribbean, in Nigeria, Bangladesh, and elsewhere). Burnett writes that pirate weapons can vary from knives and machetes to modern assault rifles and grenade launchers. Pirates have even been known to have an insider in the crew of a ship, planted there to assist in a plan act of piracy.

The reader will discover that pirates can attack any ship - ranging from small private yachts to the largest of the supertankers - in any locale, including port or on open, international waters. The goal of the pirates can vary from robbing the ship's safe and the sailors of their personal possessions (such as money and jewelry) to the ship's cargo (be it millions of dollars in petroleum or on a private yacht the expensive electronics) to the ship and the sailors themselves, the former turned into a phantom ship that is used to smuggle weapons, drugs, or illegal immigrants, the latter fodder for a thriving international kidnapping trade (that is if the crew are not simply killed and dumped overboard).

Pirates can be found anywhere in the world though the main areas that they seem to operate in are west from Indonesian waters to as far east as Taiwan and the Philippines (favoring the vital shipping lanes through the Malacca Straits and the dangerous waters of the South China Sea), as well as off the coast of Brazil, off the Somali coast of East Africa, and West Africa. The Malacca Straits in particular are a vital area plagued at times by pirates; as $500 billion in goods passes through it annually, sometimes as many as 600 ships a day going through the Straits, which in some places are less than a mile wide, it is a target rich environment for pirates but one that is not particularly well policed. Though some waters where pirates operate are regularly patrolled - the Royal Malaysian Marine Police and the Singapore marine police are very active against pirates - other countries are unable or unwilling to work against them, with in Indonesia some military units either working with the pirates or pirates themselves. His description of the South China Sea - bordered by Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, China, and Taiwan - was particularly chilling, an area where international laws and standards aren't particularly well-enforced; which he writes is an "unpatrolled black hole where unarmed vessels and their civilian crews simply fall off the edge of the planet," an area where Abu Sayaf rebels have been know to attack ships with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and kidnap rich tourists off of resort islands.

Burnett found that the odds are stacked in the pirate's favor. Ship crews are smaller than they used to be; in the 1950s a crew of 40 to 45 might manage a tanker carrying 6.3 million gallons of oil; now it is not unusual to find a few as 17 (such as on the _Montrose_, a ship Burnett traveled on) transporting 84 million gallons of oil. With the exception of Russian and Israeli ships, merchant ships very rarely carry weapons (something generally not encouraged on a supertanker anyway), having to rely instead on other anti-piracy devices, such as carpet tacks spread on decks, fire hoses, deck patrols, dummies set at the railings at night, brilliant deck lights, and new satellite tracking devices that can help the International Maritime Bureau and local navies locate hijacked ships (such as ShipLoc). Burnett has shown though that it is nearly impossible to keep off a ship determined pirates, and it is best for a crew to not try and resist (as in many cases pirates do not kidnap or kill). Some shipping companies that have the resources have employed more high-tech and expensive measures, such as wiring decks to administer lethal electric charges, closed-circuit TV cameras to detect someone slipping aboard a ship, and particularly in the case of cruise ships armed mercenaries (some cruise lines are known to use Nepalese Gurkhas). Though the U.S. and British navies don't appear to operate much against pirates, they do appear to take the threat seriously at least in some circumstances; the ships that are used to transport plutonium from Europe to Japan are constantly monitored by spy satellites, often escorted by a surface warship, and always shadowed by at least one British or U.S. nuclear sub.

Burnett laments the fact that pirates are not taken seriously as a growing threat in today's world, not by many of the world's navies, not in some cases by shipping companies, and rarely by the general public (particularly in the United States).

This book is extremely well-writen and contains both first and second hand accounts of piracy. More important than the individual tales that Burnett weaves together is the overall theme. Virtually no ship is completely safe from piracy and piracy has been increasing at alarming rates.

I heard this author on the radio, and was so capitivated by the subject matter that I later bought this book. I was not disappointed. Burnet opens with his tale of pirates boarding his sale boat. He later travels on two large commerical ships. While traveling on these boats, he blends firsthand accounts of piracy prevention and secondhand accounts of attacks on commericial ships.

That these pirates have success while using very primitive tools and methods is very alarming.

As for shotcomings, I would have preferred more information on piracy in the caribbean. The book focuses on the biggest hotspot, the Malacca Straights near Singapore.

For those who doubt the authenticity of the subject matter, I suggest you type "piracy report" into google and check out the weekly reports provided by the International Chamber of Commerce. The link was provided by the author.

This is a "must read" for anyone who sails any size boat or ship. It's also a crucial contribution to the ongoing discussion over homeland security measures. But even landlubbers safe in their LaZ Boys will enjoy the well-written, frightening tales of viscious knife-wielding criminals.

This book is primarily a wake-up call to the world about a real and growing problem. Modern day piracy is no joke, and the author is convincing in his argument that a major incident is not far from landing on the front pages. The line between pirates and terrorists is a fine one, and security on the high seas is almost nonexistant. I found the book's structure and writing to be adequate to its message, but not too much more. Less seriously, I was amused by the author's references to exercise and his physical condition and wondered who he was trying to convince. The reader? A younger wife? Nevertheless, a serious book, and one with appeal to readers interested in crime, international affairs and all things maritime.

John S. Burnett's "Dangerous Waters" sounds a warning about the global rise in crimes on the high seas. What he's talking about in his investigation is not, for the most part, large pirate vessles sailing the oceans in search of booty. Instead, he describes (mostly) small scale acts of robbery punctuated by the occasional dramatic act of violence. As Burnett points out, most pirarcy today occurs between Africa and the Pacific Ocean, and indeed Burnett spends most of his investigation in and around Indonesia, which has become modern pirarcy's largest hotbed.

Burnett had a harrowing personal experience with pirates in 1992 when he was robbed while sailing his small boat off the coast on Indonesia. This was the genesis for his investigation, though he did not begin his travels in search of pirates until nearly ten years later. Along the way, he talks to several victims of pirates, some law enforcement types out to stop it and also takes a journey aboard an oil tanker through pirate infested waters.

Burnett does a good job sounding a warning about modern piracy and the potential for a major economic or environmental disaster if, for example, an oil supertanker is hijacked for ransom or crashes while being the crew is being attacked. On the downside, Burnett's approach is haphazard and not well organized. He jumps from topic to topic randomly and has the annoying habit of repeating himself. The book also lacks one central compelling event to give it added punch.

Overall, an informative book with a few flaws.

Here's a little food for thought from this enlightening, thought- and emotion-provoking book:

The latest Very Large Crude Carriers, even larger than our stereotypical ideas of a supertanker, are easier to rob than a semi. Probably easier to hijack, too. Certainly, in the case of terrorirsts, easier to hijack than a passenger jet.

How easy? It happens regularly now, and it takes less than 20 pirates to take over a supertanker. Why don't we hear about it more? Big oil companies and shippers don't want to report it for two reasons. One, they're afraid of driving up insurance rates; two, they're afraid of showing how vulnerable they really are.

Now, courtesy of further information in this book, let's think about a possible hijack.

One deliberately wrecked VLCC or supertanker would shut down the Straits of Malacca and cripple much of Asia's, and the world's, economy. Oil ships both east and west here, with Indonesia a major, OPEC producer and Japan and China to the north and northeast, India to the west, and Australia to both southeast and southwest, all major importers.

With Muslim fundamentalists in Indonesia, and Sumatran separatists, alongside of a crumbing post-Suharto nation, this is a flashpoint, anyway... not to mention organized crime here and in the South China Sea, plus Abu Sayaf in the Philippines.

Supertankers aren't the only ships that could be hijacked, though. Burnett talks about ships that are already hijacked, not for their cargo, but in and of themselves for reuse, after suitable "chop shop" work.

This is a great book to learn a lot about modern shipping, and to get a huge wake-up call about the seriousness of modern piracy.

I have never had much interest in stories about the sea but you dont need to be a lover of swashbuckling tales to find Dangerous Waters a good read. In fact, this is one of the most compelling books I have read. It is shocking, terrifying, and I could not put it down.

Attacked while sailing in a yacht off Indonesia, Mr. Burnett responded by conducting a detailed investigation into modern day high seas piracy. It included voyages on ships transiting the most high-risk areas and time spent alongside those in the frontline in the battles against the increasingly organized gangs who rob, steal and hijack ships. I was amazed to discover that there are actual gun battles between pirates and those hired to keep them off ships.

The book makes a particularly powerful case when assessing piracy in the aftermath of 9-11. The use by an oil company of life-sized dolls strapped to the railings of their crude oil tankers to deter potential attackers is made all the more laughable in a world where terrorists have already plotted to seize or blow up ships.

In his book, Mr. Burnett concludes that terrorists will attempt to sever the conveyor of crude oil from the Persian Gulf to refineries all over the world with attacks on Very Large Crude Carriers. One of these predictions apparently came true when terrorists attacked the French tanker off the Yemen coast in October. Burnett makes some other frightening predictions that cannot help but make us all wonder about the vulnerability of every ship at sea, including passenger ferries, cruise ships, yachts and even those ships carrying recycled nuclear waste.

Mr. Burnett has written a book that provides a rich and rare insight into life at sea today. His narrative, while occasionally tending a bit toward the dramatic, is smooth, sometimes witty, and oftentimes reminiscent of the observations and descriptions of the best writers of fiction.
Marcel Zandstra

This book starts out like a house on fire, interesting and for me something new. Unfortunately the author could not keep up the pace of excitement and the middle of the book drags a bit. The author takes the reader through the world of modern day pirates or at least the ones in Asia that attack large oil tankers. The author does tell us this type of activity takes place all over the world and to all different types of ships but the book only focuses on oil tankers in Asia. He does a good job of telling us the overall issues like who is doing it, why and where, but I think he fell down on the excitement of the actual events.

The author just did not hold my attention with the different dangers and types of highjacking. I think he really could have made the book more exciting by focusing more on many different events instead of a 10 day trip on an oil tanker talking about on deck rail patrols and the food in the mess. I do not want to sound too negative; the book was overall entertaining and interesting. I would suggest it if you are interested in the subject. It just could have been more fun and exciting.

John Burnett is cleary a journalist at the top of his game, and this book is no exception. He sheds a bright light on a huge problem we all have, not just those of us who go to sea. Not only does modern piracy pose a threat to the lives of everyone who ventures into any waters where the US Coast Guard is not there to protect us, but it also threatens our worldwide economy possibly on a scale greater than 9/11 did. Not to mention the environment.

I strongly advise everyone to read this book, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as you learn more than you thought you ever would about modern piracy!

I knew that there were modern day pirates but I didn't know how severe the problem really is. The book reviews the activities of modern day pirates, discusses the international laws regarding piracy and shows what little is being done to combat it. The author tells the story of his own run in with pirates as well as the stories of whole crews that have been beaten, kidnapped and sometimes murdered while at sea. To my surprise, the book explains that thousands of ships a year are being hi-jacked. It doesn't seem to matter wether you are a small fishing boat, a cruise liner or a gigantic crude oil carrier. The author shows the correlation of high sea pirates to modern day terrorists in ways that I had not thought of before. These terrorists could and likely will someday use an oil tanker as a weapon by either crashing it and causing environmental disaster and/or using it to disrupt major shipping lanes and damaging the world economy. Most shocking is that no one is taking any real action against these pirates and countries are turning a blind eye towards their activities. The book left me with the feeling that much like terrorist events of recent years, if we continue to ignore this problem we will be hurt deeply in the future. This book was interesting and an easy read.