The Outlaw Ocean

Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier

By: Ian Urbina

Narrated by: Jason Culp, Ian Urbina

Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A riveting, adrenaline-fueled tour of a vast, lawless, and rampantly criminal world that few have ever seen: the high seas.

There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. But 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.

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—drawing on five years of perilous and intrepid reporting, often hundreds of miles from shore, Ian Urbina introduces us to the inhabitants of this hidden world. Through their stories of astonishing courage and brutality, survival and tragedy, he uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation that emanates from the fishing, oil, and shipping industries, and on which the world's economies rely.

Both a gripping adventure story and a stunning exposé, this unique work of reportage brings fully into view for the first time the disturbing reality of a floating world that connects us all, a place where anyone can do anything because no one is watching.

©2019 Ian Urbina (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"The Outlaw Ocean brings the reader up close to an overwhelming truth... An impressive feat of reporting... Urbina deftly reveals complicated ideas through his stories." —The Washington Post

"This body of work is a devastating look at the corruption, exploitation, and trafficking that thrive on the open ocean... The writing is straightforward but clever... Eerie and beautiful." —Outside

"The Outlaw Ocean is enriched by Urbina’s gifted storytelling about the destruction of marine life and the murder, crime, and piracy that make the seas so dangerous for those who make their living on them." —The National Book Review

Despite some flaws, an eye-opening must-listen!

This audiobook provides a startling view into a world that is likely to never reach the consciousness of most people living outside of it, but with which we are all nonetheless inexorably linked. Despite some flaws, the important (albeit disturbing) education it provides makes this a worthwhile and highly recommended read. The level of exploitation and mistreatment of people, the environment, and animals that occurs on the high seas, as revealed in this reporting, is horrific and the complacency with which it’s met is shocking. In addition to the morality wake-up call, there is a lot of fascinating detail about life on the sea and even some fun high-seas hijinks. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on the so-called ‘raiders of the lost arks’ and on the battles between the Japanese whalers and anti-whaling activists. Other highlights include learning about the many intricate challenges and legal complexities that governments, environmental activists, and all members of the fishing industry must navigate. The main issues I saw with the book were an at times tedious redundancy, singularity of perspective, and lack of nuanced analysis of the issues. I realize some repetitiveness and a lack of integration of ideas and themes from different chapters is unavoidable with a collection of essays, but in this case, I found it somewhat dulled the reader into ceasing to be outraged by crimes against humanity, particularly regarding the sea slavery issue. There were also very few alternative perspectives other than the author’s own and those of the victims of the powerful or their advocates (the arguable exception to this being the Somali chapter, where the reader got to hear some varying opinions from locals). Something about it felt incomplete, and the reporting would have benefited from fairer balance, as the issues are incredibly complex. However, if your main goal is to raise much-needed awareness and empathy for sea slavery – which seemed to be the most consistent theme – deeper analysis and perspective will only muddy that message. Nevertheless, I was left with immense gratitude that I had listened to this reporting and that the author had made the arduous effort to bring back the tales he did. The narrator does a fine job and I think he was a good choice for this book.

Life changing information

This book is very well written and documents the ocean and everything industrial related to it well. The information was phenomenal and struck a chord between the hopelessness and hysteria that I experience in many books about the perils of certain industries and just dismissing the idea that things can change. It has practical steps we can all take suggested at the end of the book. Well worth reading and internalizing.

Riveting and eye opening

Journalist and adventurer Ian has a comprehensive understanding of the current Pacific seas and modern pirating. Written as a journalist his details of governments clashing as power changes and his witness to specific exchanges open up a world most if us will never see but is so important to the world. Giving it to my Dad for fathers day, it’s that amazing

great book

I liked the book because it had good information that I was unaware of. moreover, it was told in a forward moving manner while still providing interesting and relevant information.

Very insightful and extremely interesting

This author is a journalist and he traveled the worlds oceans exploring just what is going on with the people who do everything from fish to drill to live on the ocean, just about every chapter is a new story with new characters and I found these stories so interesting. The author put an amazing amount of time and effort into the investigations into the subjects of this book and it shows, this is a well told book with an excellent narrator. I was very glad for the most part the book does not come across as preachy or political he gives you the facts as he sees it and leaves the rest to the reader, thank you for that it is an incredible journey great job.

The Wild West on the World’s Oceans

This was an extensive account of practices that occur on the world’s oceans. Even the author mentions that practices he thought were outlawed or banned still exist today. Piracy, thievery, slavery, extortion, blackmail and more regularly occur. Don’t think this is just an environmental expose, though it is covered in several chapters. The human element is far more prolific. Owners and operators of vessels strand men at sea for months at a time refusing to pay them their wages, give them food or water or contact with their families; men sold into slavery on fishing boats, stowaways killed and thrown overboard, Vigilantes attacking boats, manning agencies who charge recruits for work leaving them in debt before they work and holding them hostage without pay, its all here. An eye opening and sad account of what happens to them and the health of the ocean. A book devoted to parts that give insight to the whole and much of this still goes on. The author spent four years traveling and the events still haunt him. They will haunt you as well. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. Narrator Jason Culp’s reading was rote. A different narrator would’ve been better able to bring a more emotional element to the reading.

What an incredible book

It's an absolute masterpiece of information and thrill. I had no idea there was so much danger and depravation in the world. The author does an incredible job of educating, and exploring, and explaining all the ins and outs of the complex reality that is the ocean, and the relationship humanity (and other species) have with it. A must read.

Great but has misleading info

great performance, intriguing stories. really draws attention to how lawless the oceans are. there are a few "facts" that just aren't true or embellished which feels like it discredited other claims. Good read though

Do you know where your frozen shrimp comes from?

Things I learned from this fascinating book:

-That bag of frozen shrimp from Indonesia or Viet Nam you bought at the grocery store has about a 20% chance of having been harvested by slaves. Slaves who live in inhuman conditions that are life-threatening, and where murder of crew members isn't unknown.

-That once you take your boat 25 miles off shore, there are literally no rules. This lawlessness is making the oceans a dead zone and a haven for human rights violations. Also some pretty scary war games.

Urbina's approach is to go directly on these ships whenever possible, so the visceral descriptions of what it's like to sleep two inches under the behind of a colleague that hasn't washed in two weeks, but inches above the rats and fish guts, makes this book readable and compelling.

Great insights into the out of sight out of mind world of our oceans

The more we educate ourselves the more we will care about what we are doing to our oceans. My only complaint is at the end of the book he gives some recommendations for how we can all do our part, although Ian left out becoming a vegetarian, which some can argue is perhaps the BEST way an individual can have the biggest imact on stopping the over harvesting and illegal fishing industry.