The value of boats and boating equipment seized from thieves and traffickers last year totalled almost 5.1 million euros. This is almost double the value of the total seized in 2017 (2.6 million euros), according to the Competence Centre for Boat Crime (KBK).
In 2018, 196 pleasure craft were stolen across Germany. Most of these were trailerable motorboats and ribs, but dinghies and sailing yachts are also stolen from time to time. Overall, four per cent fewer boat thefts were registered last year than in 2017 (205 boats).
There was a similar trend in the number of stolen outboard motors. After a total of 1062 engines were added to the wanted lists nationwide in 2017, the number of newly recorded stolen boat engines fell by seven per cent to 988 in 2018.
According to the police, the reduction in the number of thefts in Brandenburg by 30 per cent from 341 to 240 engines is outstanding in this context. This positive development is all the more astonishing given that 36 engines were stolen at once in a single case there.
The basis for this is the successful work of a Brandenburg investigation team specialising in boat engines, which works closely with the investigating authorities in Berlin. In this way, a gang of thieves operating from Poland was convicted last summer. Like several offenders from Eastern Europe who were arrested in Berlin, the gang was active in several northern German states.
In total, German investigators, together with investigators from twelve neighbouring countries, struck 76 times last year. A total of 26 pleasure craft, a jet ski, 44 outboard motors and a boat trailer with a total value of almost 5.1 million euros were seized across Europe. In addition, there were stolen goods described by the investigators as "by-catch": three high-quality cars, a trailer and a motorbike worth a further 172,000 euros.
In the 18 years of the search unit's existence, maritime assets totalling 35.7 million euros have been secured with the involvement of the KBK.
Even though most of the seizures were made in Germany, as in previous years, boat crime is still an international phenomenon. Germany is not only a crime scene, but also a transit country. According to a police statement, the perpetrators who were arrested came from 13 countries, most of them from Eastern Europe.
As a rule, attempts are made to subsequently sell the stolen goods via the Internet. Prospective buyers should therefore exercise particular caution if they are offered boats, engines or equipment very cheaply or without papers or proof of purchase.
In this context, the police expressly point out that under German law no ownership can be acquired of stolen items, even if the item was purchased from a dealer.
The KBK cites the case of three high-quality sailing yachts with a total value of half a million euros as an example of the successful work of the boat investigators. The investigation, which ultimately led to their seizure, dragged on for almost two years. In January 2017, the public prosecutor's office in Stralsund asked the investigators from the Constance Criminal Investigation Bureau for administrative assistance in searching for and identifying the boats, which had originally been used in charter operations in Germany. There were indications that all three boats had been misappropriated by the charter operator himself. In the end, it was possible to find the boats in Croatia and Germany, even though they had all been professionally re-identified in the meantime and one had even been repainted.
The Baden-Württemberg Boating Crime Competence Centre (KBK) is based at the Constance Water Police Station and is affiliated to the police headquarters in Göppingen.
Pascal Schürmann
Editor YACHT
