Theft of luxury yachts

Know why more Buicks and Hondas are stolen, compared to Porsches & Ferraris?
Jillions built, stripped for parts, and they're ubiquitous.

"Hey, Vinny, let's pinch us a yacht, like that 'Maltese-whatever' over there".
"We'll paint it purple down in, say, Buenos Aires, and no one'll ever know!"

Speaking with my Somalian friend the other day who also conferred with his south China sea buddies, they unanimously confirmed that it's easier just to pillage cargo and electrical equipment and leave a floating shell rather than get stuck trying to dispose of a fully functional yacht, especially now with all the yacht spotters, web cams and such.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQK/is_3_9/ai_n6040479

Thats pretty funny Loren! Could just picture those two criminals from the movie Home Alone! lol! Then again I've heard that a popular magazine in Europe is a used auto trader magazine for Eastern Europe(Former Russian States) Areas, because if your BMW gets stolen in Western Europe...odds are if it isn't being stripped of parts, that its being sold in the east! I could see center console and express cruisers going that way too, but nothing over 1/2 million...insurance companies wouldn't just look a blind way! I'm sure they have some interesting individuals that help in relocating stolen property, and I'm sure that they don't ask nicely to have it back either!

I occasionally get emails from an insurance company advising the theft of yachts in the 15-20m category. A few months ago, there was even a professionally-crewed 25m flybridge motor yacht stolen from Port Vauban in Antibes (a Leopard I think) but I don't believe that thefts of yachts in this size range are very common. Theft of anything bigger is probably almost non-existent. One Mediterranean black-spot: superyachts regularly have their tenders stolen whilst anchored overnight in Corsica and Sardinia - even experienced skippers who've attached a heavy chain and padlock to their tender/s left in the water have fallen victim...

It wouldn't surprise me if there were a lot of smaller yachts, day-cruisers etc. which disappear every year, perhaps to E. Europe, N. Africa or why not, just around the corner to the next little harbour...?! Even quite minor cosmetic work would be enough to sufficiently disguise a small yacht's origins (heck, even supposedly custom-built 50 metre superyachts all look the same to me these days), and then I guess you could always claim that your "new" yacht was in fact a home-built one for which you're applying for the official registration papers for the very first time.

I think that yachts represent the ideal terrain for RFID technology. You could probably insert literally hundreds or even thousands of RFID tags into the structure during the construction of a GRP yacht at negligible cost. For more expensive metal yachts, the tags could be mixed into the fairing compound in their hundreds all over the hull and superstructure. Same principle for even the smallest inflatable dinghy, RIB or speedboat.

You could have a central database run by the insurance industry of all the RFIDs of stolen boats on a website, which the general public together with "latter-day treasure hunters" could consult as soon as something's declared stolen. Instead of spending countless hours wandering about deserted beaches for dimes and nickels, our "latter-day treasure hunters" could probably more profitably wander about marinas and anchorages in all corners of the world, armed with powerful "RFID tag detectors".

Obviously, the thieves themselves will be able to detect the RFID tags. The important part is ensuring that there are so many tags on a boat that the cost of removing every tag would be so prohibitive that some of the "latter-day treasure hunters" are undoubtedly going to be thieves on the prowl for non-RFID'd boats...?!

Interesting idea with the RFID tags, but it probably won't work very well. I don't have to remove them, I just have to find them and fry them, which can be quite easily done.

You can still make the process a bit more difficult say put them close to radars and other electronic equipments I guess.

(In my system), any attempt "to fry" any installed RFIDs would immediately set off a general alarm. The yacht's CCTV systems would immediately orientate themselves towards the perceived threat and record the events.

The perpetrator/s if, or more precisely, when positively identified and apprehended, would automatically be sent to Guantanamo...

Interesting. I am not an electronic engineer, so I am not 100% sure as to how that can be implemented. You would need additional sensors that can detect the attempt to fry the RFID tag.

But then again, they will probably try to do that AFTER they had stolen to boat. So, naturally they can erase all footage recorded by the CCTV. Unless you upload the images as the events take place. But in that case, you would have the alarms triggered and owner/captain notified as the intruder set off the other alarms such as motion sensors.

Still, I do think that RFID tags can be useful, if such as system is well thought out and implemented properly. Maybe that's a new business idea for you.

Lacking the capital, I've never ever been able to put any of my ideas into practice:

Another thought in response to RFID tags:

The solution would be at least 50% "sleeper RFID tags". These sleeper RFID tags, rather like ex. sleeping East German espionage agents would only become active after 2, 3, or 5 years, or even decades for some - they would be coated in a miraculous material prohibiting all attempts at "frying them" but whose protection would wear-off "over time" and then become "interrogable".

So, unless the thieves are willing to hold onto their investment for many years before reselling, the innocent acquirer of a stolen yacht may be in for a surprise one day...?!

PS. I know less about the subject than time travel...

Wow why so high tech...RFID tags, CCTV,frying RFID's ....

The motor vehicle industry has had anti-hijack, anti-theft devices for ages. Simply cuts off the engine after a certain time period if a secret swith is not deactivated. Wouldn't be so efficient on sail yachts though, Mmmmm