The Outlaw Ocean

High Seas. High Stakes. High Crimes. There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. Perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world’s oceans: too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these immense regions of treacherous water play host to rampant criminality and exploitation. The Outlaw Ocean is a 7-part series that explores a gritty and lawless realm rarely seen, populated by traffickers and smugglers, pirates and mercenaries, wreck thieves and repo men, vigilante conservationists and elusive poachers, seabound abortion providers, clandestine oil dumpers, shackled slaves and cast-adrift stowaways. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Urbina, the series relies on more than 8 years of reporting at sea on all 7 oceans and more than 3 dozen countries.

Crimes like this don't often happen on land. A 10-minute slow-motion slaughter captured by a cell phone camera shows a group of unarmed men at sea, possibly 15 of them, killed one by one by a semiautomatic weapon, after which the culprits pose for celebratory selfies. The shocking footage is then made public, and yet no government is willing to investigate, much less prosecute the murderers. This episode traces a tireless journalistic investigation of a shocking video that after 8 years, finally resulted in a 26-year conviction of the ship captain who ordered the cold-blooded killing. Looking for answers, this reporting takes us to the bizarre world of floating armories, which are part bunkhouse, part weapons depot, where maritime mercenaries wait for their next ship deployment. For broader context, the story explores the explosion of violence on the high seas, how Somali piracy is often used as a pretext for bloodletting by private security guards and the reasons that offshore crime often happens with impunity. Guest Interviews: Duncan Copeland, Trygg Mat Tracking Kevin Thompson, Private Maritime Security Guard For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-outlaw-ocean-transcripts-listen-1.6727090

It would be hard to believe if it hadn't actually happened. The longest law-enforcement chase in nautical history, spanning 110 days and 10,000 miles, featured a bunch of vigilantes pursuing Interpol's most wanted illegal fishing ship. Slaloming around icebergs in a deadly glacier field, cutting through a category 5 storm, this chase only ended when one of the ships sank. To discuss why illegal fishing is so rampant and unchecked, this episode takes us from the capture of the world's most notorious scofflaw vessel in African waters to the seas off the coast of North Korea, where we discover the planet's largest illegal fishing fleet. Guest Interview Tony Long, CEO of Global Fishing WatchFor transcripts of this series, please visit here.

Ian’s account of his groundbreaking reporting on slavery in the South China Sea, the first time a reporter had ever made it onboard a Thai distant-water vessel using enslaved labour. Found shackled by the neck as part of the crew on a dilapidated fishing vessel, Lang Long was a victim of the nightmarish world of debt bondage. A global scourge, sea slavery is something most people do not realize exists. This episode explains how it happens, taking us for the first time on board one such roach and rat-infested ship on the South China Sea, worked by 40 Cambodian boys. The episode also explains how overfishing has given rise to trans-shipment, fish-laundering and a prevalence of abuse that companies and governments have a tough time countering or tracking. Guest Interviews: Shannon Service, Director of “Ghost Fleet” Daniel Murphy, Freedom FundFor transcripts of this series, please visit here.

The sea has always been a metaphor for freedom – an escape from governments, laws and other people. This episode takes us off the coast of England to Sealand. A rogue “micronation” meant to embody this very freedom, which was founded on an abandoned British anti-aircraft platform in 1967. “From the Sea, Freedom” explores the world of libertarian-minded endeavors at sea, where renegades and mavericks of all sorts seek to escape the laws of land-bound nation-states. The reporting also visits the high seas near Mexico to meet other characters who leverage the freedom and a legal gray area found offshore. We travel with Rebecca Gomperts, the founder of Women on Waves, a group that provides abortion access for women who live in countries where it is restricted. Secretly carrying several Mexican women beyond national waters, Rebecca uses a loophole in maritime law to legally administer pills that will end their pregnancies. Guest Interview: Rebecca Gomperts, founder of "Women on Waves"For transcripts of this series, please visit here.

The oceans are running out of fish. To slow down that problem, environmentalists pushed for fish farming or aquaculture. The problem is this industry became too big and too hungry. To fatten the farmed fish faster, they started feeding the high-protein pellets called fishmeal — made from massive amounts of fish caught at sea. Now, more than 30 percent of all marine life pulled from the sea feeds other fish in aquaculture farms inland. To explore this upside-down situation, we travel to the West African country of The Gambia for an offshore patrol where hundreds of Chinese and other fishing boats trawl for fishmeal production, cratering the local food source and polluting the coastline. Guest Interview Dr. Daniel Pauly, Marine Biologist For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-outlaw-ocean-transcripts-listen-1.6727090

When a ship inadvertently spills oil, it’s big news. But every three years, ships intentionally dump more oil than the Exxon Valdez, and BP spills combined. This episode highlights a vexing and woefully under-discussed problem. It is made possible by corrupt ship captains who use a so-called “Magic Pipe” that dumps oil discreetly under the water line rather than disposing of it on land as legally required. To learn about this problem, the episode tells the story of Carnival’s Caribbean Princess cruise ship, which used such a pipe and was caught, convicted and hit with the biggest fine in history. This case is set in a broader context of other forms of at-sea dumping, such as plastic pollution, and highlights how the sea has long — and perilously — been viewed as a bottomless trash can. Guest Interviews Annie Leonard, CEO of Greenpeace, creator of “The Story of Plastic” Richard Udell, DOJ Prosecutor on the Caribbean Princess Case For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-outlaw-ocean-transcripts-listen-1.6727090

Covering two-thirds of the planet, the sea is a workplace for more than 50 million people. The oceans produce half the air we breathe, and more than 80 percent of the products we consume traverse the oceans. Aside from being vital, the oceans are also distinctly fascinating for the universality and peculiarity of mariner culture. This epilogue episode shares a more personal and behind-the-scenes account of a body of reporting trips mostly done at sea — and how this experience can affect a person, for better and worse. It discusses the importance of investigative reporting in a time of clickbait journalism, and it makes an argument for immersive storytelling in our era of information overload. Lastly, the episode suggests that if The Outlaw Ocean reporting is to offer any insight into human nature, it tells us about the thin line between civilization and the lack of it – and why better and more governance is essential to the future of our species and the planet. Guest Interview Bren Smith, fisherman & founder of Greenwave For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-outlaw-ocean-transcripts-listen-1.6727090

In season two of The Outlaw Ocean, host Ian Urbina sheds light on the secretive Libyan prisons swallowing up sea-faring migrants; flagrant human rights abuses in China’s massive off-shore fleet; the horrors of a shrimp processing plant in India; and the wild story of a modern-day James Bond — if he were a repo man. New episodes weekly on Wednesdays, starting on June 4, 2025.  

The Libyan Coast Guard is doing the European Union’s dirty work, capturing migrants as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe and throwing them in secretive prisons. There, they are extorted, abused and sometimes killed. An investigation into the death of Aliou Candé, a young farmer and father from Gineau-Bisseau, puts the Outlaw Ocean team in the cross-hairs of Libya’s violent and repressive regime. In this stunning three-part series, we take you inside the walls of one of the most dangerous prisons, in a lawless regime where the world’s forgotten migrants languish.Ep. 1 highlights:On our mission to chronicle the anarchy of the world’s oceans, we knew we had to cover the Mediterranean crisis. The EU's shadow immigration system is a harbinger of things to come, as climate change and (often newly illegal) migration create the perfect conditions for a humanitarian crisis.The face of that crisis often looks like Aliou Candé, a 28-year-old farmer and a father of three children who hoped to lift his family out of poverty.To hear all episodes of Season 2 right now — early and ad-free — subscribe here.

The Libyan Coast Guard is doing the European Union’s dirty work, capturing migrants as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe and throwing them in secret prisons. There, they are extorted, abused and sometimes killed. An investigation into the death of Aliou Candé, a young farmer and father from Gineau-Bisseau, puts the Outlaw Ocean team in the cross-hairs of Libya’s violent and repressive regime. In this stunning three-part series, we take you inside the walls of one of the most dangerous prisons, in a lawless regime where the world’s forgotten migrants languish. Ep. 2 highlights:The EU has claimed they play no role in this migrant crisis, even as they provide boats, buses, petrol — even the tablets the Libyans use to count up their captives.Once captured and counted, those migrants are often held in a network of secretive prisons run by competing militias, where exploitation, abuse, and death are common. They are also routinely “rented” as everything from farm labour to soldiers in battle.Aliou Candé was sent to a prison, where he died at the hands of prison guards, while trying to protect himself from a melee. “I’m not going to fight. I’m the hope of my entire family.”

The Libyan Coast Guard is doing the European Union’s dirty work, capturing migrants as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe and throwing them in secret prisons. There, they are extorted, abused and sometimes killed. An investigation into the death of Aliou Candé, a young farmer and father from Gineau-Bisseau, puts the Outlaw Ocean team in the cross-hairs of Libya’s violent and repressive regime. In this stunning three-part series, we take you inside the walls of one of the most dangerous prisons, in a lawless regime where the world’s forgotten migrants languish. Ep. 3 highlights:Host Ian Urbina is detained, beaten and brought to a secret prison. He believes he is going to die. And still, he knows this is only “a sliver of what the migrants we are covering go through.”Urbina learns his team is being held in the same facility. They make proof-of-life videos as their respective governments intervene to get them out. Ian reflects on Western privilege and the lottery of birth. He, unlike Aliou, gets to go home. He also gets to report what he saw: a war on migration. A war with an army, a navy, and an air force. A war likely to spread as more poor, desperate migrants risk it all to reach safer shores.

Depending on who you ask, Max Hardberger is either a seagoing James Bond or a swashbuckling pirate. Hardberger runs a rare kind of repo service, extracting huge ships from foreign ports. His company is a last resort for ship owners whose vessels have been seized, often by bad actors, and over the years he’s built a reputation for taking the kinds of jobs others turn down. Hardberger’s specialty is infiltrating hostile territory and taking control of ships in whatever way he can – usually through subterfuge and stealth. Whatever part of the world his missions take him, Hardberger thrives in its grey areas. Episode highlights:Host Ian Urbina takes us back to the beginning, when a young Max was teaching himself to sail and piecing together a living by doing odd jobs. That is until the gig that changed it all. After Hardberger successfully recovered a stolen ship from Venezuela, his phone just kept on ringing.Some of the most lucrative stealing happens in the world’s murkiest waters. Hardberger explains that his “sweet spot” is in extra-judicial areas, and walks us through his unconventional toolkit of tactics and tricks. He’s worked with sex workers, witch doctors, and many persuadable security guards. But we learn there are some laws even he won’t break, and some places even he won’t go. Urbina finally gets the chance to see Hardberger’s work up close, and follows him on a mission to Greece. There he hopes to repo a 261-foot freighter called The Sophia - but the job immediately proves to be more complex than even Hardberger expected. On this job, we find out where the repo man draws his line. “I like not getting killed … I like even more not going to jail in a foreign country.”

What started off as a dream job, slowly revealed itself to be a nightmare. Josh Farenello moved to southern India to oversee a shrimp-processing plant, but it soon dawned on him that he’d been really been hired as an American face to “whitewash” a forced-labour factory. The largely female employees were effectively trapped on the compound, routinely underpaid, and forced to live in inhumane, unsanitary conditions. Over several months, Josh meticulously gathered evidence that he brought to the Outlaw Ocean team for this exclusive exposé.Episode highlights:Processing seafood is a race against the clock to prevent spoilage, so the Choice Canning plant in Amalapuram runs more or less 24/7. There’s also not a lot of automation in shrimp processing, so this means that the factory relies on an enormous amount of labour to deliver 40 shipping containers full of packaged shrimp — every single day. Josh starts to poke around the factory, to understand the layers of how such a high volume/low cost product is even possible. He finds migrant workers from India’s lowest castes living in deplorable conditions — like shared beds with bedbug-infested mattresses — as well as downright dangerous conditions, like a secret dorm above the plants’ ammonia compressors. He also realized there are hundreds more people living on site than the paperwork accounts for, and they cannot freely leave.The discrepancy continues between what Josh has witnessed and what’s officially tracked on paper. Another place that shows up is in shrimp that have been treated with antibiotics. Josh says “Oscar” shrimp (a euphemism for antibiotics) have been shipped to markets where their use is illegal, like the U.S. He makes the case you won’t find in official documents.

Spread across the Earth’s oceans, the Chinese distant-water fishing fleet is the single largest armada in human history. This three-part series is an unprecedented investigation into their secretive fishing practices. The fleet is so gargantuan that even the Chinese government can’t account for all its vessels. We do know it has hauled in more than 35 billion dollars worth of catch per year and sold it across the globe — and yet, almost nothing was known about its practices. That is, until the Outlaw Ocean team started asking questions, and eventually managed to get aboard.Episode highlights:Averaging one dead body every six weeks, mostly-Chinese fishing vessels have been dropping their deceased off in Uruguay’s coastal capital for years. But in 2021, an Indonesian deckhand named Daniel Aritonang arrives clinging to life. He’s conscious enough to say he'd been beaten, tied up by the neck, and starved for days.We learn Daniel’s story is shockingly common in the world’s Chinese-run fish processing infrastructure. It's a realm where health and human safety are secondary to meeting quotas and where forced labour and human rights abuses are rampant. We learn how vulnerable people like Daniel are recruited, and how routinely they never make it home.The team is convinced that they need to speak directly to the crew on one of these vessels. They themselves are shocked when a captain agrees to let them aboard. Even more surprising, a minder briefly leaves host Ian Urbina alone with the crew and immediately some men plead to be rescued.