Thefts of Boats and PWC Continue to Decline

According to the Des Plains, IL-based National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), thefts of boats and personal watercraft continue to decline.

In the Bureau’s annual look at US watercraft theft and recoveries for the period between January 1 and December 31, 2014, thefts for all boats combined were shown to be down by six percent over the previous year. Overall, there were 5,181 watercraft thefts reported during 2014, compared against 5,537 thefts reported during 2013. This is the second year in a row that watercraft thefts have dropped – the number of thefts reported in 2012 was 5,870.

According to the report, during 2014 an average of 14 boats and personal watercraft were stolen each day, working out to an average of 100 per week or 432 per month for all 50 states. The greatest number of thefts took place in July, with 667, while the fewest (223) were stolen in February. Florida led the way in the greatest overall number of thefts, with 1,290 for the year, followed by California (507), Texas (386), Washington (201) and North Carolina (169). No thefts were reported from either Hawaii or the District of Columbia.

By type, personal watercraft were the most frequently stolen boat, at 1,121 units. Runabouts were the second most-frequently stolen boat type with 755 reported missing, followed by utility boats (325), cruisers (186) and sailboats (49).

The NCIB annual tally also included a breakdown of thefts by brand. The most frequently stolen boats were manufactured by Yamaha, at 547 units, followed closely by Sea-Doo with 509. Kawasaki (138), Alumacraft (116) and Bass Tracker (100) rounded out the top five most-stolen brands.