Joining the dots to stop boat theft rot

by Mark Rothfield on 11 Jul 2013 In the good ol’ days, marine thieves faced a choice of keelhauling, a flogging or running the gauntlet through two lines of angry men armed with knotted ropes. The lucky ones were tied to the rigging and left to the weather’s mercy. Today, marine theft remains a major concern, with every moored vessel and unguarded runabout being a potential target.

Industry analysis suggests the cost exceeds $11 million in Australia each year. Yet modern-day scoundrels either escape justice or cop a slap on the wrist.That being the case, boat insurers Club Marine have teamed with police, Crime Stoppers and theft deterrent company DataDot Technology to create the new National Marine Register. The register already contains around 40,000 boat and marine-equipment profiles, including 900 stolen vessels. It was officially launched at the recent Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.

It’s set to become the free go-to site for pleasurecraft buyers looking to check whether a vessel has been previously stolen and is being passed off as genuine.‘It’s time to take more action to deter theft,’ Club Marine CEO Greg Fisher said. ‘The most commonly stolen boats are trailerboats used for fishing and waterskiing and we’re determined to make it harder for thieves to profit from stealing boats from Club Marine members and boat dealers.’Fisher said he was hopeful that other marine insurance companies would come aboard.

‘Right now, it’s relatively easy to steal and rebirth vessels in Australia. If we all work together we can do our bit to stamp out this practice, which affects us all one way or another.’

When thieves change a vessel’s identity it’s more difficult for investigators to confirm the true ownership and achieve a successful prosecution. Crime Stoppers spokesman Peter Price said the register was an important tool that highlighted the benefits of identification technology.‘Re-birthing and surrogate registration operations make marine theft a lower-risk and profitable criminal business,’ Price said. ‘Criminal networks traffic in stolen boats and personal watercraft (PWCs) between Australian states, where it is very difficult to identify the stolen vessels.’

DataDot Technology’s involvement is crucial. It works by applying thousands of microscopic discs (DataDots) about the size of a grain of sand, with each dot containing a unique code that’s stored on the register. One car maker has seen an 84 per cent reduction in vehicle theft since it employed the technology. Warning stickers tell thieves that the boat is marked, which often prevents theft in the first place.

Boat and PWC owners can register and upload pictures and key data about their craft’s identifying features, including HIN, VIN and motor serial numbers. In the event of a theft, the register will activate an alert via text and social media. Marine dealers and boat buyers can use a Boat Check feature to identify stolen boats that are advertised for sale.

See the website for details.

When is comes to powerboating Australia’s Jamie Whincup is now arguably the fastest ambassador - whether on land or sea. Every time he’s on the track, the four times Bathurst winner and quadruple V8 Supercars champion unleashes around 650 horsepower rev limited to 7,500 rpm in a race car built by Triple Eight Race Engineering.

But while Jamie has moved seamlessly between Fords and Holdens to win his land titles, when he wants to get the G-forces pulsating on the water, he always heads for one of his three Yamaha PWC’s – a super comfortable tourer; a racing-inspired sports model and a radical freestyling stunt machine.

P1 AquaX Cup was held over the weekend in Plymouth, UK where Ian Moule showed the younger AquaX riders that older is wiser, braver and considerably fitter as he won the SuperPole race by nailing his ski to the first pin four abreast and not giving an inch. In Sunday's race he got off the start in third place behind Tim Batte and Dave Huddleston only to quickly seize his opportunity to pass once Huddleston took a swim. 'I saw Dave's ski hi-side and he went flying, he landed miles away from his Ski and as I passed I was thinking that’s a long swim!' Next outing for the AquaX riders will be in Palm Bay, Margate in just two weeks time.

More news on the boat show front: Fresh from the success of this year's Singapore Yacht Show (SYS) in April, event organisers have just announced the dates for the fourth edition of this rapidly growing regional yachting and boating showpiece, to run 10-13 April 2014. Returning once again to the vibrant atmosphere of ONE°15 Marina Club in Sentosa Cove, the 2014 event will continue to build upon the strong results of this year’s show, which saw both visitor registration numbers and on-water yacht and boat displays double from the previous year.

As has been well documented, the 2013 Sydney International Boat Show (August 1-5) will celebrate its 25th and final exhibition at what has become its ancestral home since 1989, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour. The site will undergo a fabulous Billion Dollar redevelopment through 2014, ’15, and ’16, with the show returning fully to the site in 2017.

The Team from MarineBusiness-World, Powerboat-World, FishingBoatig-World, Sail-World and Sail-World Cruising will be working hard to bring you news from the show, we will tell you all about what we will be doing next week.