Somali Piracy 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…

Pirates have boarded a Malta-flagged products tanker off Somalia, maritime security sources said on Thursday, while the vessel's manager said the ship's 24 crew members were safe.Attacks on vessels by armed assailants in recent days have raised concerns for shipping lanes in a region across which critical energy and goods are transported to global markets.The Hellas Aphrodite, which was carrying gasoline, was en route from India to South Africa when a "security incident" took place on Thursday morning…

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

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.If confirmed, this would be the first Somali piracy attack against a merchant ship since May 2024, raising risks for critical energy and goods transported through the region, maritime sources said.The vessel was sailing some 332 nautical miles (615 km) off the Somali coast when four armed attackers approached in a skiff from the starboard side and opened fire…

The Board of Directors of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) are deeply saddened by the death of Spyros M Polemis, who served as Chairman of ICS from 2006 to 2012.Polemis had a long history of leadership of the maritime industry, previously serving on the ICS Board for many years as the representative of the Union of Greek Shipowners. He was also President of the International Shipping Federation (ISF) before its merger with ICS, which he oversaw, in 2011.Polemis was a tireless advocate for shipping and the maintenance of global rules for a global industry…

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…

The IMO's Legal Committee met in person for its 111th session at IMO Headquarters in London from April 22 to 26 April 2024, and finalized guidelines on the fair treatment of seafarers detained on suspicion of committing crimes.These are to be applied where seafarers may be detained in a jurisdiction other than that of the seafarers' nationality on suspicion of committing crimes during the course of their employment on board a ship.The objective is to ensure that seafarers are treated fairly during any investigation and detention by public authorities…

The Legal Committee of the IMO will meet for its 111th session at IMO Headquarters in London from April 22 to 26, 2024. The Committee deals with any legal matters within the scope of the IMO, including issues relating to liability and compensation, fair treatment of seafarers and the registration of ships. This meeting will discuss:1. Abandonment of seafarersSeafarer abandonment happens when shipowners fail to fulfil obligations to seafarers related to timely repatriation, payment of outstanding wages or salary…

One of the largest of the international shipping associations BIMCO has reported increased threats associated with maritime shipping amid Red Sea risks related to Houthi strikes and rise of piracy activities offshore Somalia.Since November 2023, the threat to shipping has increased as the Houthis started attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Simultaneously, piracy activity off the East coast of Somalia has risen and since December, two bulk carriers and several fishing ships have been hijacked.

British security firm Ambrey said on Sunday that it had received a report that a Yemeni fishing vessel had been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden."Crew on board the fishing vessel were off-boarded in Bosaso, Somalia.

Six crew members of a Sri Lankan fishing trawler hijacked by suspected Somali pirates have been rescued, Sri Lankan officials said on Monday.The hijacking on Sunday was the latest in a series of attacks that have fueled fears of a resurgence of Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea waters after years without a successful raid.Pirates who caused chaos in the key waterways from 2008 to 2018 appear to be taking advantage of disorder caused by attacks on shipping by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group.Authorities were informed of the incident by a second boat traveling with the trawler on Su

A merchant ship sailing off Somalia has been hijacked by unknown raiders, Spain's defence ministry said on Tuesday, fuelling fears pirates are returning to the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea waters already plagued by a surge in attacks on shipping.A Spanish warship rushed to check on the Maltese-flagged vessel Ruen on Friday after reports it had been hijacked. It "has been under piracy (control) since the morning of Dec. 14," the ministry said in a statement, in its first confirmation of the ship's fate."The MV Ruen has indeed been hijacked.

Yemen's Houthis have been targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait in attacks that the Iran-aligned group says aim to support the Palestinians as Israel and Hamas wage war.Several freight firms including MSC, the world's largest container shipping line, said they would avoid the Suez Canal as a result, which could mean having to circumnavigate Africa instead.War risk insurance premiums have risen as a result.WHAT ARE THE RECENT HOUTHI ATTACKS?* Dec.

Shipping companies should use caution when deploying private armed guards onboard vessels sailing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden because of the risk of escalation amid growing attacks on ships, an industry advisory said on Friday.Yemen's Houthis have been attacking vessels in Red Sea shipping lanes in recent weeks and firing drones and missiles at Israel, saying they aim to support Palestinians as Islamist group Hamas and Israel wage war in Gaza.In an advisory issued on Friday by the shipping industry's leading associations, companies were urged to "complete a thorough risk assessment wh

An Iranian fishing vessel, Almeraj 1, was reportedly hijacked by Somali pirates in November 2023. According to media reports, the pirates demanded US$400,000 in ransom and threatened to use the Iranian ship for additional hijackings if the payment was not made.Two days later, other Somali pirates hijacked a tanker, Central Park, off the Yemeni coast. The tanker sent a distress signal during the attack. Forces from a nearby American warship captured the pirates as they tried to…

As tankers, car-carriers and other merchant vessels pass through the Malacca Strait, unlit fishing boats criss-cross the shipping lanes at night, making it one of the most challenging sea areas of the world to transit, even during peacetime.Should a major war ever come to Asia, those challenges could be magnified spectacularly, with hundreds of vessels abruptly leaving the international waters in the middle of the Strait for what they hope might be the relative safety of the national territorial waters of nearby neutral nations.The Strait – between Thailand…

War risk insurance premiums edged up for Red Sea voyages after three vessels were attacked in the area on Sunday and fears grow over worsening perils for commercial shipping, maritime and insurance sources said on Monday.The incidents are the latest in a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since a brutal war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas broke out on Oct. 7.The three commercial vessels came under attack in international waters in the southern Red Sea, the U.S.

Somali pirates have released three Iranian hostages held for five years, a maritime security official said on Thursday, as conflicting reports emerged whether another ship had been seized after a three-year hiatus in hijackings.The three Iranians are the last of the crew of the Iranian fishing vessel FV Siraj, which was captured by pirates on March 22, 2015.“This marks the end of an era of Somali piracy and the pain and suffering of Somalia’s forgotten hostages,” said John Steed…

An Iranian sailor held hostage by Somali pirates for more than four years has been released with the help of the United Nations and a humanitarian group, Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi thanked the Hostage Support Partnership group, U.N. officials in Somalia, and authorities in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland and in Ethiopia for their help in winning the release of Mohammad Sharif Panahandeh, the state news agency IRNA said.Three Iranians sailors are still being held…

The United States wants all ships to keep their tracking transponders on to cut down on illicit activity and smuggling, and to increase transparency with movements of ships around the world, a senior State Department official told Reuters.Automatic identification systems trackers are the most accessible way of observing where ships are located.The practice of turning off AIS by some vessels from countries such as Iran has become common to evade closer scrutiny as the United States pushes to cut off Iranian oil exports.The official…

Shipping companies sailing through the Middle East Gulf are being urged to avoid having private armed security guards onboard as the risk of escalation in the region rises, industry associations say.Relations between Iran and the West have become increasingly strained after Britain seized an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar last week and London said its warship HMS Montrose had to fend off Iranian vessels seeking to block a British-owned tanker from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.The most recent incidents followed a spate of attacks on tankers since May around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, which the United States has blamed…

The European Union’s counter-piracy force EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta has revealed the scenerio after having responded to the attack on 21 April. The suspected pirates seized a fishing dhow off the coast of Somalia then, holding 23 people hostage.Two days later, the incident was over; Operation Atalanta had detained five suspects and released 23 hostages, it said. EU NAVFOR explained detailed of the operation.The incident began when five suspected pirates captured a fishing dhow off the coast of Somalia. The suspects proceeded to navigate the dhow along the coast, where they visited a pirate base camp and reinforced their crew with additional members.Next, using the captured dhow as a mother ship, the suspects attacked another fishing vessel, the FV Adria.

Bulk of attacks occurred off Nigeria. Armed attacks on ships in West African waters nearly doubled in 2016, with pirates increasingly focused on kidnapping their crew for ransom off Nigeria's coast, a report said on Tuesday. A recent spate of attacks off Somalia, meanwhile, may also indicate a resurgence of piracy in East Africa as a result of less vigilance, the Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) project said. OBP, a project of the privately funded One Earth Future Foundation that encourages cooperation across the international maritime community to tackle piracy, recorded 95 attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea in 2016, up from 54 the previous year.