Piracy fears alter Star Clippers itineraries

For the past decade, Star Clippers has had at least one of its tall ships based in Thailand for half the year, but in a recent press release the company has said that when this winter’s sailings end, there won’t be another Clipper ship based in the region until the risk of piracy abates.

The tall and beautiful Star Clippers are probably a particularly attractive proposition to pirates as they are easy to board and would struggle, even with their engine propulsion, to outrun pirate ships. And Somali pirates in particular have a naïve belief that all British and Americans are rich, so tourists sailing on such an iconic cruise ship are likely to seem perfect targets for kidnapping to them. A British couple taken by pirates last year are still being held because their captors seem unable to understand that owning a yacht does not mean their families are capable of paying the alleged £4 million ransom.

Now, Star Clipper will relocate to St Maarten and sail the Caribbean through the winter from that base for the foreseeable future. The company cited, ‘geopolitical conditions not related directly to the destinations’ as the reason for their change of home port and also mentioned that having two ships based in the Caribbean next winter means that they can offer their passengers a very rare experience, the chance to enjoy some tall ship racing!

Many cruise lines have reconsidered their sailings through the Gulf of Aden and around Malacca, following the high number of pirate attacks in that area. Seabourn, MSC Cruises, Fred Olsen and Hapag-Lloyd have all changed itineraries, cancelled cruises or pulled cruise ships from home-porting in the region around the Indian Ocean in the past 18 months.