San Francisco Bay area houseboat and yacht owners have spoken out about the alarming rise in piracy, with marauders hijacking whole boats and robbing their crews of valuable possessions.
The alarming pirate trend has hit the Alameda Community Sailing Center, resulting in the theft or destruction of four safety boats, each worth up to $35,000. The suspected maritime bandits who have been frightening the people of San Francisco Bay are now in prison.
On March 28, the Oakland-Alameda Estuary Police Department apprehended three individuals on suspicion of committing a burglary at a company located on Embarcadero, San Francisco’s famous waterfront.
Houseboat and yacht owners on the 800-foot-wide canal finally achieved some relief after over a year of looting and violent clashes with the Pirates.
The homeless encampments in Oakland were the suspected targets of vagrants who began robbing huge ships last summer using smaller boats. In response, residents pursued the would-be robbers across San Francisco Bay.
The unidentified individuals accused of breaking into a company on March 13 in the estuary were caught on camera.
The Oakland police said that the Alameda County district attorney was notified of the matter after search warrants were performed on the small boats and the stolen material was discovered.
The Oakland-Alameda Estuary is home to several marinas with around 3,000 boat docks. Many residents of these marinas live in houseboats and yachts.
In the summer and autumn of last year, thieves targeted huge ships, robbing them of any valuables they could find on board using tiny, abandoned, or stolen boats. After that, they would send the ships down to Oakland Harbor or its shorelines to sink them or dispose of their remains miles away.
At several city council sessions in 2023, including the enforcement meeting of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), numerous locals recounted personal stories of the terrible condition.
Police agencies in both cities collaborated with the Coast Guard, which maintains a station in the estuary, to resolve the situation, which had been vexing for months due to jurisdictional uncertainties and dwindling police personnel.
