Sailing training ship chases drug speedboat - and wins

The opponents could not have been more disparate: a smart sail training ship similar to the GORCH FOCK and a highly motorised, semi-submersible drug smuggler! And yet the Ecuadorian three-masted barque GUAYAS managed the feat of intercepting and apprehending the drug-laden speedboat on its journey north. Sheer luck and bad luck helped the commander - on the one hand favourable winds and constant information about the change of situation from the American air surveillance of the anti-drug task force, on the other hand the failure of two of the three outboard engines and perhaps also the impressive silhouette of a three-master from a frog's-eye view. Even though the sailor could only run at 10 knots at best, the boat would have had a clear advantage at 40 knots if the sea god hadn't had a hand in it. When the race began on 21 October, the two sailors were still separated by around 160 miles. At this point, the GUAYAS was the only official vessel for miles around. However, she was able to close up to the lame smuggler overnight, so that with a rubber dinghy and the available guard weapons, the surprising moment was probably overpowering. A P3 of the U.S. task force was also patrolling overhead. Fully motivated, but completely unprepared for an enemy boarding, the 6-man inflatable boat crew managed to crack the semi-submersible and overpower the four smuggling jockeys.

Further details of the operation are not known, but will certainly be part of the Ecuadorian naval yarn for some time to come. In any case, the commander of the multi-agency U.S. Anti-Drug Task Force thanked the GUAYAS for a courageous manoeuvre that has no parallel since it was set up 40 years ago.