Received From: Rachel Robertson

Contact Email: [email protected]

Subject: DRIFT NETTING

Message:

Recently, in the pitch black of a new moon night, we were caught in Drift nets. They were unlit and unmanned. They were in parallel and stretched too far into the night to gauge how long they were. We spent two hours with Drift nets tangled around our hull and prop. Dangerously trying to cut ourselves free.

What I am interested in is other peoples experiences.

– Has anyone else been caught in Drift nets?

– Were they manned?

– Lit?

– Where were you?

– What are the laws on drift netting in that country?

Yes, Drift netting is a danger to vessels, luckily we were 10 nm out to sea, in calm weather, no shipping, and not near a reef. This occurred off the east coast of Nias in West Sumatra.

I would be very interested to hear other people stories, particularly to do with drift net encounters (see contact details above).