French Yachtsman Seriously Wounded in Attack Off St Croix

French Yachtsman Seriously Wounded in Attack Off St Croix

A French yachtsman was badly wounded following an attack on his single-hander yacht by sea robbers looking for drugs and money off St Croix in the Caribbean.

The single-hander yacht, Arc en Ciel, was en route from the Bahamas to Guadeloupe having stopped to rest in a protected anchorage on the southwest coast of St. Croix overnight on January 14, 2016. After departure from the anchorage at around 1100 LT, while under power, in position about 1.5 miles offshore, the vessel was approached by a large fishing boat and boarded by 2 - 3 men who aggressively threatened the owner, shouting “drugs, money” and punched him in the face and then stabbed/slashed his lower left leg. They went on to steal cash and electronics from below.

The captain was then shot in the right thigh at close range, severely wounding him, and left on the floor of his drifting boat as the men departed.

The captain, reported to be French sailor, 70-year-old Guy Briffa who was to meet his wife in Guadeloupe, although bleeding profusely and in severe pain was able to manoeuvre his boat back into the industrial harbour alongside a tug. He tossed shells, winch handles, etc. at the side of the tug. It took about 45 minutes before he was able to get the attention of anyone on the much larger tug.

A tug crew member eventually investigated the unusual noises and then summoned the police and ambulance. The victim was transported to the Juan F. Luis (JFL) hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for his serious injuries, some 3 hours after the initial attack.

Briffa was said to have told doctors at JFL he had been shot with a military or police-style weapon and that the shot had shattered the Frenchman's femur.

The Virgin Island Police Department stated the information on the incident was by St. Croix Police Chief Arthur Hector Sr., and went on to say agents from Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas were also on hand, although they took no action.
The VIPD took possession of the boat as a crime scene, Jackson said, and had it towed to Green Cay.
"At that point Coast Guard took it over," Jackson said.

However, at this point, some confusion arose. The Coast Guard has no record of ever being involved with the boat, according to Coast Guard Public Affairs Officer Ricardo Castrodad; the Coast Guard was not informed of the incident until after the initial police response. Castrodad noted that there had been no report or request for assistance broadcast on the mariners' emergency radio channel.

"We were notified of the situation after the fact. That's why there wasn't a Coast Guard appearance," Castrodad said.
"The Coast Guard never saw, touched, went aboard or had any control of the vessel," he said.

Castrodad also said that, while the attack seems to fit the literal definition of the word piracy, from a legal standpoint that's not the proper term.
"As to our understanding, it's not considered piracy," he said. "It was a crime, certainly, but the criminal attack took place within the territorial waters of the Virgin Islands. It wasn't a stateless area of the high seas."

Meanwhile, Biffra's wife Michelle flew to St. Croix, where ,with the help of an interpreter, sought to find the boat.

The boat was located in Christiansted and police turned it over to her. She said the boat's GPS system was missing, among other things. The boat has a video camera in the cockpit and it might have been on during the attack. Police had taken the system's SIMM card, which was returned to her, but she was told no one had had the time to review the four hours of video.

She attempted to hire someone to sail the boat to Guadeloupe, but said she had to cancel the voyage because of bad weather. Instead the boat was stored in a Christiansted boat yard. Briffa and his wife have since returned to France.

Michelle Briffa expressed gratitude to those in the territory who had helped her and her husband through their ordeal.

Sources: St Thomas Source/Caribbean Safety and Security Net