S2 E4: The repo man of the seas

·49 min·4 clips

Max Hardberger describes sneaking on board a seized ship in Venezuela and bribing guards to escape, revealing his life as a ship repo man.

The story opens with a seized vessel. Max Hardberger describes working for a company whose ship had been taken in Venezuela, then getting aboard at night after bribing a guard. The ship nearly hits the rocks, reaches twelve miles offshore, and is then reported to Interpol as stolen. That forces a change of route. Hardberger says he heads for a small Haitian harbor he knows, the kind of place where arrangements can be made if the money and timing are right. Around the Maya Express, the episode gets less romantic and more practical. The plan depends on notices, hired muscle, local confusion, and a diesel cover story. Hardberger tells the guards a tugboat is coming in at night for fuel, which keeps Haitian authorities from looking too closely. He goes to Port-au-Prince, prepares a notice, then comes back with extra men and two SWAT team members armed with Uzis. The guards are moved off the ship. He offers them three hundred dollars each for belongings left aboard, but tells them they cannot come back. Then the moon ruins the plan. With no clouds and a full moon, the cut anchor chains can be seen from the hills, and people come down to watch. Hardberger's armed backup holds them on the dock while the crew finishes and the tug takes over. The ship is pulled away. By the end, the episode leaves the moral line tight and uncomfortable. From one angle, it looks like theft. From another, it is a recovery job, done with bribes, threats, deception, and a stubborn belief in ownership.

As heard by us

A ship-repo story that makes maritime logistics feel like a tense argument about law, theft, and power.

This episode tracks Max Hardberger through the hard-edged business of taking ships back: a seized vessel in Venezuela, a midnight boarding, a bribed guard, and the thin line between recovery and theft.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

When a ship is stolen, you want the man who knows how to take it back again.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Outlaw Ocean