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Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas
While sailing alone one night in the shipping lanes across one of the busiest waterways in the world, John Burnett was attacked by pirates. Through sheer ingenuity and a little bit of luck, he survived, and his shocking firsthand experience became the inspiration for Dangerous Waters . Today's breed of pirates are not the colorful cutthroats painted by the history books. Unlike the romantic images from yesteryear of Captain Hook, Long John Silver, and Blackbeard, modern pirates can be local seamen looking for a quick score, highly trained guerrillas, rogue military units, or former seafarers recruited by sophisticated crime organizations. Including new, up-to-date information for the paperback edition, Dangerous Waters is both a dauntless investigation and an epic, breathtaking modern tale of the sea.
346 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2003
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November 1, 2017
_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).
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).
December 14, 2012
More relevant than ever with growth of Somali pirates, etc.
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.
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.
November 1, 2013
This was a great inside account of an ever present and much overlooked practice that costs the world's economy billions of dollars annually by the author's reckoning.
The book revealed first hand accounts of piracy that usually go unreported as well as chronicle his experiences aboard similar vessels to ones that have been hijacked in the same part of the world.
The first hand accounts of ships being boarded and looted at best are harrowing. Many of the unlucky victims don't live to tell their tales.
Most of the book focuses on the Malacca strait between Indonesia and Malaysia where most of the world's transit passes through. little or no mention is made of piracy in other parts of the world.
The book describes How Easy it is to hijack multi-million dollar ships with precious cargo often worth more than the vessel itself. Corruption, lack of jurisdiction in international waters domestic strife, high success rates and little chances of getting caught make pirating a very Easy and profitable alternative.
It was a very interesting read that needed to be brought to the public's attention.
The book revealed first hand accounts of piracy that usually go unreported as well as chronicle his experiences aboard similar vessels to ones that have been hijacked in the same part of the world.
The first hand accounts of ships being boarded and looted at best are harrowing. Many of the unlucky victims don't live to tell their tales.
Most of the book focuses on the Malacca strait between Indonesia and Malaysia where most of the world's transit passes through. little or no mention is made of piracy in other parts of the world.
The book describes How Easy it is to hijack multi-million dollar ships with precious cargo often worth more than the vessel itself. Corruption, lack of jurisdiction in international waters domestic strife, high success rates and little chances of getting caught make pirating a very Easy and profitable alternative.
It was a very interesting read that needed to be brought to the public's attention.
April 24, 2020
Slightly ahead of the Disney-inspired resurgence of interest in storybook pirates comes this all-too-real account of the activities of their modern-day counterparts. Author John S. Burnett does a reasonably solid job of delving into the risks that 21st-century maritime crime poses to the men and women aboard commercial vessels and the commerce they help create. Between hijackings, kidnappings, theft of cargo and sometimes entire ships, it’s a wonder that acts of piracy don’t make the news any more often than they do. And of course now one can add the additional risk of a Sept.-11-style attack on a major city or shipping lane, only this time with a stolen, giant tanker as the weapon of choice. Burnett probably could have made his point a bit faster than he does, but some of the filler material he includes is as interesting as the overall thrust of his argument. If any of the catastrophes he warns about ever actually come to pass, I expect this will rocket to the top of the best-seller list. Let’s just hope against hope that such a thing never happens.
January 4, 2009
Absolutely fascinating!
John Burnett starts with his experience of being boarded by local pirates and fortunately surviving with a bump on the head and a loss of some binoculars and cigarettes. He investigates modern piracy--who are the pirates, how they operate and who is trying to protect the world's shipping. He recounts some frightening acts of piracy. And how shipping is very vulnerable to terrorism. The book was published in 2002. I would really like an update. I think things have gotten worse.
I read this at a time when pirates off the coast of Somalia had taken a Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks, weapons and ammunition. Ransom negotiations have broken down and the ship is surrounded by warships. The pirates have threatened to blow the ship, the crew and themselves up.
John Burnett starts with his experience of being boarded by local pirates and fortunately surviving with a bump on the head and a loss of some binoculars and cigarettes. He investigates modern piracy--who are the pirates, how they operate and who is trying to protect the world's shipping. He recounts some frightening acts of piracy. And how shipping is very vulnerable to terrorism. The book was published in 2002. I would really like an update. I think things have gotten worse.
I read this at a time when pirates off the coast of Somalia had taken a Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks, weapons and ammunition. Ransom negotiations have broken down and the ship is surrounded by warships. The pirates have threatened to blow the ship, the crew and themselves up.
March 3, 2012
Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas
starts out with the author John Burnett's encounter with pirates when they raided his small sailboat near Indonesia. He writes a heart-thumping account that sets the tone for the book. It's riveting. Burnett takes the reader into the daily lives of the under-staffed freighter and tanker crews that ply the seas and bring cargo and fuel to the modern world. Burnett weaves first person accounts of modern piracy with the these accounts of shipboard life, providing both an education of what life at sea is like these days, as well as the first person accounts of both victims and those who fight pirates. Great reading and a must read for anyone trying to understand the causes for modern piracy.
February 11, 2013
Really scary account of piracy mainly around Asia and Africa.
There are thousands of piracy reports each year and only about 10% are
reported. Most ships don't want to hassle with the insurance troubles
so they don't report acts of piracy. Pirates are usually really poor
but also ( sometimes ) very well armed individuals who use small,
swift boats to hijack anything from yahcts to giant petro-filled
tankers.Keep your eyes on the news because someday the inevitable will
happen; a Valdez style spill due to piracy. Side note - the large
funnels on ships are referred to as CNN funnels because companies no
longer put their company name on them to avoid bad publicity in the
event of another Exxon/Valdez "oopsey-daisy".
There are thousands of piracy reports each year and only about 10% are
reported. Most ships don't want to hassle with the insurance troubles
so they don't report acts of piracy. Pirates are usually really poor
but also ( sometimes ) very well armed individuals who use small,
swift boats to hijack anything from yahcts to giant petro-filled
tankers.Keep your eyes on the news because someday the inevitable will
happen; a Valdez style spill due to piracy. Side note - the large
funnels on ships are referred to as CNN funnels because companies no
longer put their company name on them to avoid bad publicity in the
event of another Exxon/Valdez "oopsey-daisy".
March 22, 2011
I enjoyed this personal account of piracy in the 1990s and early 2000s. This book tells the story of priates as seen from the deck of freighters and yachts across the globe. Most of the accounts are focused on the Malaca Straits and South China Sea, with relatively little coverage of Caribean and African piracy. The author gives an simple understanding of the the origin of the modern pirates, and the local politic sceenes that are often complicit in piracy. The book feels a bit dated in 2011, based on recent news coverage of priacy near Somolia and Yemen. However, it is still a good read and provides a background to help frame the news stories on pirates that one may see.
June 29, 2015
I read this book on a Southeast Asian island only accessible by boat. What was I thinking?
This book needed a couple editors that it didn't get. The biggest problem is the organization. The second biggest problem is that it can't decide if it wants to be flowery purple prose descriptive nonfiction or clinical fact-driven nonfiction, so it switches between the two, with less than stellar effect.
We're also getting past this book's expiration date: without knowing much about the subject, I know that the intervening years since the book was written in the early 2000s have changed the landscape of piracy quite a lot. Time for a second edition?
This book needed a couple editors that it didn't get. The biggest problem is the organization. The second biggest problem is that it can't decide if it wants to be flowery purple prose descriptive nonfiction or clinical fact-driven nonfiction, so it switches between the two, with less than stellar effect.
We're also getting past this book's expiration date: without knowing much about the subject, I know that the intervening years since the book was written in the early 2000s have changed the landscape of piracy quite a lot. Time for a second edition?
February 18, 2011
This made for really interesting reading about piracy, the ships who found themselves under attack and the captains who managed to either fight off the pirates, or unfortunately became victims. Some ships could have avoided pirate attacks if they had only complied with certain well advised practices, and some of the attacks resulted in fatalities and stolen ships. With valuable cargo on board, pirates today, especially in SouthEast Asia, have better modern weapons and technology available to them.
January 10, 2009
This is an interesting book. It is based on real stories about modern day pirates. They are definetely not something out of the fairytales, or disney stories. The times when he discribed attacks were very fascinating and scary. I did find that in between these times it was a little cumbersome to read. I started to skim those parts. On the whole it was a interesting read, for a non fiction. And those who know me I am not a non fiction type reader.
April 25, 2009
An interesting, eye-opener about terror and piracy on the seas. Very informative and scary accounts of a war on piracy that is gaining more awareness nowadays. Could become an important read/topic very shortly, if it hasn't already.
Read
August 10, 2011Discusses modern day piracy long before the Somolian pirates took over the straight. A fascinating and scary read because he mentions the dangers of what would happen if a super oil tanker was taken over by pirates. Yikes!
January 12, 2015
Modern day piracy is alive and well and much worse than you think. The harrowing account of the Valiant Carrier is the most memorable. The author covers all types of shady business in the ocean world, and thus the book isn't written tightly enough for me. Nonetheless, it's a fascinating read.
February 21, 2020
This book is definitely meant for people with a foundation of nautical knowledge. I enjoyed the first half but it got boring after that. This book is meant for a niche audience that is not me but I would understand if others enjoyed it
August 9, 2007
I liked reading it. Some of the only narrated accounts or interviews about modern piracy I have read. A nice break from law review articles on the subject.
August 12, 2007
A very cool - and honest - look into modern piracy and the serious threat it poses in various parts of the world. I wouldn't read this before or on a cruise, though.
October 10, 2007
Piracy lives. Why do we not hear more about this activity.
Want to read
August 4, 2008As heard on "Three Books" on the NPR Books podcast.
February 4, 2009
If you're interested in learning the details of modern piracy, this is a good choice. If you're not really interested in the topic, it's a little dry.
Read
October 30, 2009Good read, I Would highly recommend this book.
April 4, 2014
Sometimes exciting, always interesting. When I was done I wanted to read more about contemporary piracy.
September 8, 2024
Ehhh....all of these books are kind of the same. Single-handedly keeping this genre in business....someone's got to do it.
July 25, 2025
Fascinating read! Mr. Burnett provides a detailed and intriguing look at modern day piracy, but the book was published back in 2003, so it is a bit dated because I know of many more recent piracy stories within the last decade. This is an excellent narrative, based on the ship research of modern-day piracy in Southeast Asia. This book reveals the sobering poor options shipmasters have when they are in dangerous waters south of the equator. Moreover, this read is enlightening regarding the magnitude of the pirate problem in and around the Indian Ocean/South China Sea/Bay of Bengal. This is the first time I read and learned about piracy in the South. All the stories and experiences I know of are about piracy in and along the Horn of Africa. This book has 20 chapters and includes a bibliography, glossary and index at the end, which I found to be really helpful for cross-referencing. I particularly enjoyed the following chapters: Chapter 6—Better than dancing lessons, Chapter 7—A Christian approach, Chapter 9—Dead men tell no tales, and Chapter 15—Ghost ships of the high seas. Several of these chapters resonated because I can personally tell stories of my own situations that parallel them. Chapter 6 opens with "There are no guns aboard this ship, at least not that anyone admits to." Every ship arriving in port must declare the weapons it carries. The discussion of organized crime in Asia in the seas in Chapter 15 was fascinating, as I only read and know of organized crime on land in this part of the world. This is a good publication about piracy. However, I think an updated publication is in order and much anticipated from this seafarer.
Overall, Burnett's publication is a must-read for every seafarer and most especially for those who traverse the seas in the most dangerous and challenging areas in the maritime industry. If you know of anyone interested in wanting to work to make the maritime industry safer, coupled with adventurous, life-risking excitement in a new career, check out the link. https://ambrey.com/careers/
Overall, Burnett's publication is a must-read for every seafarer and most especially for those who traverse the seas in the most dangerous and challenging areas in the maritime industry. If you know of anyone interested in wanting to work to make the maritime industry safer, coupled with adventurous, life-risking excitement in a new career, check out the link. https://ambrey.com/careers/
January 3, 2024
Very informative, and slightly scary story about the rampant piracy on the seas.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews