Pirate Attack News

An EU warship secured the crew of an oil products tanker on Friday after it was attacked by pirates off Somalia, its operator and a European Union naval mission said, as worries grow over a resurgence of piracy after years of calm.Just hours earlier, in a separate incident, another vessel successfully outran a pirate skiff in the same area, maritime sources said.A recent spate of attacks on vessels off the Horn of Africa, including the first involving suspected Somali pirates in a year…

The European Union's counter piracy force has deployed a warship to the coast off Somalia after a suspected pirate group tried to target ships in the area, maritime sources said on Wednesday.Armed assailants attacked a commercial tanker off the coast of Mogadishu on Monday, firing at the vessel after attempting to board the ship in the first suspected Somali piracy incident of its kind since 2024, maritime sources said.The attack and other incidents have raised concerns for the shipping lane through which critical energy and goods are transported to global markets.A Seychelles-flagged fishing

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia would defend its ships using the Baltic Sea with all means available and that a failed Estonian attempt to seize a tanker there recently showed that Moscow could respond with tough actionif it had to.Estonia said on Thursday last week that Moscow had briefly sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea during an Estonian attempt to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a "shadow fleet" defying Western sanctions on Moscow.Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, on Sunday then detained a Greek-owne

China said on Monday (March 31) that all crew members who went missing over the weekend after a suspected pirate attack on their Ghanian-registered fishing vessel are now “safe”.“China will continue to work with Ghana to safeguard the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in Ghana,” foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.Seven armed people boarded the ship and fired warning shots shortly before 1800 GMT on Thursday (March 27), the West African nation’s military said in a statement…

Three Chinese nationals were missing from Ghanaian waters and believed to have been kidnapped after a "suspected pirate attack" on their Ghanaian-registered fishing vessel, the West African nation's military said on Saturday.Seven armed people boarded the ship and fired warning shots shortly before 6 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Thursday, the military said in a statement, adding that they had stayed on board for about three hours while some crew members hid.After the suspected pirates left and the crew came out of hiding…

A possible pirate attack off the coast of Somalia has been confirmed by Operation ATALANTA, the European Union's anti-piracy force in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.The confirmation comes after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Thursday that it received a report of a merchant vessel being boarded 420 nautical miles southeast of Merca, Somalia. UKMTO's statement said an unknown number of unauthorized people from two small craft were reported to have…

A Spanish navy ship is sailing at full speed towards a Maltese-flagged commercial vessel that may have been hijacked by pirates off Somalia, the European Union's Somali counter piracy force said on Friday.If confirmed, it would be the first successful hijacking involving Somali pirates since 2017 when a crackdown by international navies stopped a rash of seizures in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.EUNAVFOR's joint operations centre in Spain said it received an alert on Thursday about the "alleged pirate-hijacked vessel" Ruen, which was approximately 500 nautical miles east of Socotra Isl

The Nigerian Navy announced the release of the VLCC Heroic Idun on Saturday, and the crew and vessel are now reportedly sailing for South Africa.The navy said the “grave infractions” of the vessel were prosecuted by the Federal Government of Nigeria at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt on January,10 2023. The 26 foreign crew pleaded guilty and elected voluntarily to enter into a plea bargain that involved paying fines and making an apology to the Federal Republic of Nigeria…

Six crew members who were kidnapped by pirates from a Danish-owned ship in the Gulf of Guinea in late March have been rescued from an undisclosed location in Nigeria, the vessel's owner said on Monday.The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Monjasa Reformer with 16 crew members was hijacked on March 25 by five armed assailants some 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire."All recovered crew members are in a relatively good health condition given the difficult circumstances they have been under in the last more than five weeks," Monjasa CEO Anders Ostergaard said in a statement.The crew members have all received medical checks and are now being repatriated to their home countries and families, he added.

The Singapore-flagged chemical tanker Success 9 has been attacked by pirates. Praesidium International reports the attack occurred on April 10 300NM south of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in the Gulf of Guinea.The number of people that boarded the vessel is unknown, AIS transmission has been lost, and the incident is on-going. Praesidium notes that the vessel regularly travels in the region and was likely involved in bunkering operations.Fuel theft is suspected as a motive for this and other attacks mounted in the region. The Liberian-flagged tanker Monjasa Reformer was attacked in March 2023.

Following the incident in the Gulf of Guinea on 24 November involving the Danish frigate Esben Snare and a suspected pirate vessel, BIMCO calls on all naval forces in the area to further increase the pressure on piracy groups and hopes a continued naval presence will act as a deterrent.According to the Danish Armed Forces, Danish frigate Esben Snare has been involved in an incident involving suspected pirates on 24 November in the waters south of Nigeria. The Danish navy further announced that the frigate was close enough to send a team to the suspected pirates with the aim to board…

The Iranian navy thwarted a pirate attack against an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, Iranian state TV said. "Before crossing the Bab al-Mandeb straight, the tanker was approached by four boats carrying armed men who were prevented in their attack after the Iranian escort fired warning shots," state TV reported.Iran’s navy has extended its reach in recent years, sending vessels to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates. (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Nick Macfie)

A Russian Navy destroyer has fended off a pirate attack on a container ship near the western coast of Africa, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.Destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov received a distress signal from Panama-registered container ship Lucia en route from Togo to Cameroon on Monday, the ministry said in a statement, and dispatched a unit of marines on a helicopter to it.The pirates immediately fled, allowing Russian soldiers to free the ship's crew.The Russian destroyer was part of a group patrolling the Gulf of Guinea to ensure the security of civilian navigation.

Iranian naval forces intervened on Saturday to repel pirates who attacked an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, Iran's state media reported.Pirates in five speedboats attacked the unidentified tanker, but they fled after facing heavy fire from Iran's navy, the state broadcaster IRIB said on its website.Iran’s navy has extended its reach in recent years, dispatching vessels to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirate attacks.(Reporting by Dubai newsroom Editing by Mark Potter)

Iran and Russia on Tuesday embarked on joint naval exercises in the Indian Ocean which will include thwarting a mock pirate attack on a merchant ship, Iranian state media reported.Iran has recently conducted several military exercises as it tries to push the United States to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement.Admiral Gholamreza Tahani told state television that night and day time firing was practiced.The drills also included “a variety of defensive formations towards the key part of the exercises which will be to free a merchant vessel attacked by pirates…

An attempted pirate attack on the Marshal Islands-flagged tanker Pike was reportedly thwarted on Friday morning offshore Ghana.According to Praesidium, a maritime security intelligence firm, the tanker, which had left Lagos the day before, was approached on Friday around 0350 UTC by a small craft with six to eight persons aboard.“Perpetrators attempted to board the vessel, but evasive maneuvers performed by the Master hampered their attempt. The vessel and crew are reported safe…

Offshore workers kidnapped from an FPSO offshore Nigeria in an armed pirate attack in July, have been released, the owner of the floating production unit said Friday.In an incident that occurred on July 2, nine Nigerian crew members aboard the BW Offshore-owned Sendje Berge FPSO were kidnapped.BW Offshore said Friday the workers had been released."BW Offshore is very pleased that all of the offshore employees have been safely released.

Armed pirates attacked a British-flagged chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday but were repulsed, the ship's manager Stolt Tankers said.The pirates approached the Stolt Apal in two speedboats some 75 nautical miles off Yemen, it said, in one of the most important trade routes for oil heading from the Middle East to Europe."After multiple warning shots were fired by the armed guard team aboard Stolt Apal, the skiffs opened fire on the ship. The armed guard team returned fire, disabling one skiff and ending the pursuit," a company spokesman told Reuters in emailed comments."A coalition warship (also) responded and Stolt Apal has resumed her voyage…

Offshore vessel operator Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) has informed that seven of its crew members of the Pacific Warden,  abducted in a pirate attack offshore Equatorial Guinea in November, have now been released.According to a press release, after 31 days in captivity, the crew were met by senior representatives from SPO. Immediate medical checks and other necessary arrangements were organized, and all have now returned to their homes.“I would like to recognize our crew members and their families for the extraordinary courage, resilience and patience  they demonstrated throughout this ordeal," said Managing Director, SPO, Peter Langslow.Peter added: "We are relieved that it has been possible for the crew to be reunited with their families in time for the Christmas and year-end holidays…

Iranian naval forces intervened to repel pirates who attacked an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, state television reported on Friday.The broadcast said pirates in 11 speedboats attacked a tanker with a cargo of 150,000 tonnes on Thursday. It showed naval forces opening fire on speedboats, without saying whether the footage was from the latest incident.Iran’s navy has extended its reach in recent years, dispatching vessels to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates. (Reuters, Reporting by Dubai newsroom Editing by David Goodman)

On November 3 the Stena Imperial reported a suspected pirate approach while on northbound passage through the Red Sea west of Yemen on her way from Far East to Rotterdam for discharge.Two suspicious skiffs were found approaching Stena Imperial from the port side at a distance of 1.5 nautical miles. The alarm was raised and the Master and the on board security team mustered on the bridge. Hand flares were fired towards the skiffs as warning shot as they were continuously approaching towards the vessel.

Due to the application of BMP protection measures by the Master, his crew and the private security team, the piracy attack was thwarted and the crew and vessel remained safe.The Master had already evacuated the crew to the citadel when the embarked Armed Security Team (PAST) responded to the attack. There was a sustained exchange of fire before the skiff with several armed people on board broke off and changed course away from the MV.Following the collective advice of industry and military counter-piracy operations, as written down in Best Management practices 5 (link here), the Master’s actions and the on board security team’s reaction…

Security guards aboard a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship repelled an attack by pirates in a gunbattle off Somalia's coast this week, the European naval force in the region said on Friday.It was only the second reported attempt by Somali pirates to seize a commercial ship this year, after a resurgence of attacks in 2017 following years of relative calm brought about by regular patrols of the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVOR).On Tuesday, pirates approached and opened fire at the Hong Kong-flagged MV KSL Sydney freighter 340 nautical miles off Somalia, but private security guards aboard the ship acted quickly to foil the attack, EUNAVOR said in a statement."Due to the application of BMP (best management practices) protection measures by the master…