Pirates of the I don't Care about being.

[JustAddWater]

I heard an interesting report on the news this morning. It said there has been a recent increase (about 37%) in piracy in South East Asia; targeting tug boats and freighters, as well as kidnappings that target dive instructors from that region. Have any of you heard similar reports?

Accounts from released instructors said that though their captors sought dive instruction, they were unconcerned about decompression or safe ascent.

 

[jiveturkey]

I haven't heard of anything recently but the area around southern philippines/sabah/indonesia has long been plagued by pirates. The kidnapping of the tourists from Sipadan island being the most famous amongst divers.

I'm heading there next month. I guess I'll have to practice my groin kicks before I leave. *fingers crossed*

 

[saying]

JustAddWater once bubbled...
though their captors sought dive instruction, they were unconcerned about decompression or safe ascent.

So after about one year there will be a comparable drop in piracy just as there is a rise in recompression facility attendents.

 

[Zagnut]

That's one way of avoiding those course fees.

A while back the Abu Sayef, a terrorist group in the Phillipines, was kindnapping divers from resorts for ransom. They claimed to be a political movement, but were more like thugs trying to make a buttload of cash to continue killing Phillipinos, They were loosely associated with Al Queda.
Mohmar Quaddaffi (spelling?), the Leader of Libya, a state on the list of terrorist states, paid millions and millions of $$$ to get them released...more or less, one terrorist group tranfering funds to another with Quaddaffi trying to earn brownie points from Washington for it...(as of late, ol Mohmar says he has changed his ways to get off that list).

This is the first time I've heard of pirates trying to get dive training... that doesn't really sound like your run of the mill South East Asian pirate does it?
I wonder what they've got up their sleeves...I guess this kind of thing is why the Feds are poking into all of our certifications..or rather seein' as now that the Feds are poking into all the certification agencies, I guess it's why this kind of thing is going on.

Well, if they are planning a terrorist strike... at least maybe their plot will fail due to all the terrorists getting bent.

 

[Scubaroo]

JustAddWater once bubbled...
Accounts from released instructors said that though their captors sought dive instruction, they were unconcerned about decompression or safe ascent.

Sounds like a load of BS - someone's trying to instill fear along the lines of "we had some flight students who only wanted to learn about making turns, and not takeoffs or landings".

Are ANY open water students concerned about decompression or safe ascent? Are open water students even taught about decompression apart from a brief mention in the classroom if they're lucky? Does a non-diver know what the term safe ascent means?

Got a news site reference you can share stating these "reports"?

 

[Aeolus]

This sounds like one of those urban legends. Just something to stir people up.

 

[JustAddWater]

It was on FOX news, reported by Mansoor Ijaz who is one of their foreign affairs analysts.