When people set sail on the trip of a lifetime to explore the world’s oceans,
an attack from pirates may be the last thing on their mind. But a workshop
in Germany is helping to prepare them for the worst.

Nestled on the Baltic Sea coast, the tiny German port town of Neustadt is a peaceful spot in a rural, calm and largely safe region. It’s about as far from the world’s most violent places as you can imagine.
But now, seafarers have been coming to the town to prepare themselves for some of the worst dangers lurking on the high seas.
These are not professional sailors, but ordinary people who want to explore the world’s oceans. People like Sabine and Jan Sorensen, a couple in their late 40s who have sold their house in Hamburg to buy a large yacht and are about to embark on their world tour.
Sabine and Jan, along with 53 others, recently attended a workshop run by the police in Neustadt offering practical, hands-on advice to prepare them for the worst – a hijacking by pirates.
The need for this kind of training was only recently underlined in the Philippines, where a 70-year-old German sailor was killed by Abu Sayyaf terrorists who had captured him in 2016.
In that attack, the kidnappers also killed the sailor’s female companion. Similarly, a 40-year-old sailor from northern Germany was murdered in the South Sea in 2011.
“There are said to be 500 to 600 recreational sailors in Germany alone,” says Jens-Karsten Reimann, head of the Neustadt Police Department of Maritime Safety.
Most of the sailors are older than 55. “The majority are well educated and have money. But some are simply adventure-seekers,” Reimann says. What they all have in common is curiosity. “For many of them, the journey is the destination. They want to go out and learn about the world.”
That’s all well and good – but there are some dangerous places in the world, as the police lecturers explain to the sailors. Reimann advises them to plan their trips as painstakingly as possible, to decide in advance which regions they want to visit, and to share ideas and tips with other sailors and the police.
It’s not only the boat that has to be made ship-shape for a world voyage, but also the crew members, who need to be prepared to deal with the local conditions at their travel destinations.
As for specific danger areas, the workshop participants are warned about the waters off Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, the Caribbean, and certain spots in Southeast Asia. “We (the police) will also keep track of the sailors when they are passing through dangerous areas,” Reimann says.
“In places where the people have little money, that’s where you have to be careful,” he adds. Sailing boats are easy prey for pirates – so a “pompous yacht” is not the most suitable vessel for trying to sail through dangerous areas.
But despite the dangers, police generally advise against carrying weapons. “As a northern European, you’ll be thinking it over three times whether you really are going to shoot,” says Reimann’s colleague Jan Labetzsch.
“By which point, the attackers have already fired off their entire magazine.” In many places, a human life is not worth much.
And it’s not just pirates you need to look out for – angry fishermen can also be dangerous. The police advise sailors to avoid dropping anchor for the night in an isolated bay.
“Many people head out with the expectation that this is a holiday tour, and so only good things are going to happen,” Labetzsch says. “But that isn’t always the case.”
The idea of the police workshop is to alert sailors to the possible risks and give them practical tips to help them defend their boats. For example, there are certain sailing manoeuvres that can be used to ward off attackers approaching in a boat.
The workshop participants also hear from a sailor who has already completed a world voyage and can talk about his experiences. Some of the sailors will also show the police their planned itinerary and ask specific questions about the risks.
Having attended the workshop, the Sorensens are now completing their last-minute preparations before setting sail in early April. The couple are happy about their decision to drop out of the rat race and break from their daily routine in order to pursue their passion.
Jan, from Denmark, has been sailing since the age of five. “Our children were sceptical to begin with,” Sabine Sorensen says. “But now they’re wishing us all the best.”
The couple are now planning to avoid certain areas, such as the waters off of Venezuela and the coast of West Africa. “We’re not afraid,” Sabine Sorensen says. “If we were, we would never set out.” –DPA