Piracy News

The Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO met for its 108th session at IMO Headquarters in London from May 15 to 24, and its outcomes included revising the roadmap for the development of a code to regulate autonomous ships (Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships - MASS).The Committee approved the report of the third session of the Joint MSC-LEG-FAL Working Group on MASS (MASS-JWG 3) and noted the significant progress made to date to develop the draft MASS Code, including the restructuring of chapters and refining the draft provisions.

The European Union's anti-piracy force in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea said on Friday the Liberian-flagged merchant vessel Basilisk had been freed from suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia and its 17 crew members were safe.The ship was attacked by suspected pirates on Thursday around 380 nautical miles east of Somalia's capital Mogadishu while sailing north, the EU Naval Force said in a statement.The EU said its forces boarded the Basilisk from a helicopter on Thursday night, having sent one of its Operation Atalanta warships to respond earlier in the day.A male crew member who was injur

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 United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Thursday that it had received a report of a merchant vessel being boarded 420 nautical miles southeast of Merca, Somalia.UKMTO said in a statement that an unknown number of unauthorized people from two small craft were reported to have boarded the vessel.Between 2008 and 2018, Somali pirates caused havoc in the waters off the country's long coastline. They had been dormant until late last year when pirate activity started to pick up again.(Reuters - Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alexander Winning)

A group of suspected Somali pirates has been aprehended and transported to justice officials in Seychelles, EU counter-piracy forces said.The six men are accused of attempting to hijack the Marshall Islands-flagged merchant tanker vessel Chrystal Arctic in the Gulf of Aden on May 10.After the failed attack about 100 naautical miles north of Bosaso, the suspected pirates were arrested by ATALANTA forces and treated for injuries of varying severity.Then, an  ATALANTA warship transported…

Three missiles were sighted approximately 15 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's Mokha, British security firm Ambrey said on Friday, and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that one vessel was damaged."The Master has reported two attacks.

A Portuguese-flagged container ship, the MSC Aries, was seized by Iran on April 13 for "violating maritime laws", Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday, adding that there was no doubt the vessel was linked to Israel.Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1. Iran had said it could close the crucial shipping route."The vessel was diverted…

Somali pirates released a hijacked ship, MV Abdullah, and its crew of 23 early on Sunday after a $5 million ransom was paid, according to two pirates."The money was brought to us two nights ago as usual... we checked whether the money was fake or not. Then we divided the money into groups and left, avoiding the government forces," Abdirashiid Yusuf, one of the pirates, told Reuters.He added the ship had been released with all its crew.Somalia government officials did not respond to a request for comment.The MV Abdullah…

Subrosa Group (SRG) announced it is rolling out a new Maritime Security (MarSec) division, SRG Maritime Security, to deliver security services globally to the commercial shipping and offshore industries, private vessels and superyachts.SRG's CEO, Niall Burns, said, "The establishment of our Maritime Security division is a direct response to the critical need for elite armed protection for large vessels navigating increasingly perilous waters worldwide. Incidents of maritime attacks are alarmingly on the rise…

The Indian Navy said it had freed a hijacked Iranian fishing vessel from nine armed pirates in the Arabian Sea on Friday, rescuing its crew unharmed.The fishing vessel, Al-Kambar 786, was southwest of the Yemeni island of Socotra on March 28 when it was reported to have been boarded by pirates, according to a statement from the navy late on Friday.The ship was intercepted by the INS Sumedha and INS Trishul, leading to "over 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures" forcing the pirates to surrender…

The Indian navy handed over 35 Somali pirates to the police in Mumbai on Saturday, after 100 days of anti-piracy operations east of the Red Sea, where piracy has resurfaced for the first time in nearly a decade.India, the largest national force in the Gulf of Aden and northern Arabian Sea region, captured the pirates from the cargo ship Ruen last week, three months after it was hijacked off the Somali coast.Taking advantage of Western forces' focus on protecting shipping from attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militants…

India will bring in and prosecute 35 Somali pirates its navy captured on a hijacked ship off Somalia, a navy official said, in a departure from its recent practice of rescuing vessels and crew but leaving the disarmed pirates at sea.The captured pirates are due to arrive in India on Saturday and will be handed over to the law enforcement agencies, the official said. He declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.The exact charges against the pirates were not immediately clear…

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.

Somali police and international navies were preparing on Monday to attack a commercial ship that was hijacked by pirates last week, the Puntland region's police force said, two days after Indian commandos rescued another cargo vessel held by pirates.The MV Abdullah was hijacked off the coast of Somalia last week, the latest of more than 20 attacks since November by Somali pirates who had laid dormant for nearly a decade.On Saturday, the Indian navy rescued another cargo vessel, the Maltese-flagged MV Ruen, which had been seized in December, freeing its 17 crew members and arresting 35 pirates.

Indian naval forces including special commandos seized a cargo vessel that had been hijacked by Somali pirates, rescuing 17 crew members, a spokesperson for the navy said on Saturday.The navy said in a post on social media platform X that all 35 pirates aboard the ship, the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel Ruen, had surrendered, and the ship had been checked for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition and contraband.The Ruen had been hijacked last year and the navy said it had…

Twenty armed people have boarded a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia and have taken control of it, a maritime security firm said on Tuesday.The vessel is the latest to be targeted following a resurgence of attacks by Somali pirates in recent months although the maritime security firm, Ambrey, did not specify that it was Somali pirates who boarded the ship.Ambrey said the ship was a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier - a type of merchant ship used to transport large amounts of cargo…

In a well-timed decision given the current situation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the UK Supreme Court recently handed down judgment in Herculito Maritime Ltd v Gunvor International BV [2024] UKSC 2, a decision that arose from seizure of a ship by Somali pirates.Key factsThe vessel MT Polar was chartered to carry a cargo of fuel oil from St Petersburg to Singapore. The most direct route would be via the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden.The Gulf of Aden was within the “high risk area” for piracy when the charter was agreed.

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

British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Thursday that a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier had reportedly been boarded by armed individuals 458 meters southeast of Eyl, Somalia.The vessel was destined for Khalifa bin Salman in Bahrain, according to Ambrey's statement.(Reuters - Reporting by Clauda Tanios and Enas Alashray; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Jan Harvey)

A Malta-flagged, Bulgarian-owned bulk carrier was reportedly boarded on Thursday after being involved in an incident in the eastern Indian Ocean off Yemen's Socotra Island, British maritime security company Ambrey said in an advisory note.An Iranian-flagged fishing vessel in the area had switched off its AIS transponder six hours before the incident close to where the bulk carrier appeared to come adrift, Ambrey said."The Iran-flagged fishing vessel had previously been operating offshore Somalia," Ambrey added.(Reuters - Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Alex Richardso

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…

An attempted hijacking of a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday appears to have been carried out by armed Somali pirates and not Yemeni Houthis, despite the firing of missiles from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen afterwards, the Pentagon said on Monday."We're continuing to assess, but initial indications are that these five individuals are Somali," said Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder."Clearly a piracy related incident," Ryder added.A U.S. Navy warship responded to a distress call on Sunday from the chemical tanker Central Park.

Reported incidents of piracy and attacks on vessels are on the rise in key hotspot areas such as the Gulf of Guinea and Singapore Straits.Sixty-five incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were recorded globally in the first half of 2023, an increase from 58 incidents for the same period in 2022, according to a mid-year report from the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Of the 65 incidents reported, 57 vessels were boarded, four had attempted attacks, two were hijacked and two were fired upon. Perpetrators successfully boarded 90% of targeted vessels.