The New York Times has published a story exploring the work of maritime "repo men" featuring WorkBoat correspondent Max Hardberger.

Hardberger, who is called in "when a vessel has been stolen, its operators have defaulted on their mortgage or a ship has been fraudulently detained by local officials," is the owner of New Orleans-based Vessel Extractions and a regular contributor to WorkBoat.

 The Times story, written by Ian Urbina, details the unusual and largely unregulated world of vessel extractions:

“Most recoveries of stolen boats and maritime repossessions are ho-hum affairs, typically involving paperwork and banks working with local law enforcement. But when negotiations fail, waterborne jailbreaks sometimes occur.”

Read the full story at NYTimes.com.