The high seas are a lawless frontier where crimes such as murder, slavery and environmental destruction are often met with impunity and overlooked by the media. But the ocean is also a place of discovery and reinvention, offering freedom from the constraints of society.

A new 10-part short film series by The Outlaw Ocean Project stems from over a decade of reporting by our columnist Ian Urbina exploring crime on the high seas. The series chronicles a gritty cast of characters including traffickers and smugglers, pirates and mercenaries, shackled slaves and vigilante conservationists.

Over the next ten weeks, we will exclusively share all episodes of ‘Dispatches from the Outlaw Ocean’ as they come out.

Episode 1 – ‘Where killers go free’ – came out on Monday, 17 April. It deals with a gruesome video that turned up on a cell phone, abandoned in the back of a taxi. Four men desperately cling to wreckage, somewhere in the high seas. Shots ring out. The men are gunned down, methodically, one by one. There are countless witnesses to their slaughter. Yet like 99% of all murders that occur in international waters, the crime goes unreported. When the footage finally surfaces and goes viral, no government is willing to investigate.

Over the span of a decade, Ian Urbina will travel the oceans in search of answers. In this episode, he takes viewers on a tireless investigation, deep into the murky world of floating armories, mercenaries and pirates exploring why offshore crime is so prevalent, unreported, and unpunished.

SENSITIVE CONTENT WARNING: The video on the following link contains graphic or violent scenes which some people may find offensive or disturbing.

Watch Episode 1 here