The daring attack in December bore unsettling hallmarks of the piracy that once terrorised global shipping off eastern Africa: a cargo vessel hijacked, its crew taken to Somalia, and disappeared, The successful capture of the foreign vessel was the first by Somali pirates since 2017, and follows a spike in armed seaborne attacks around the Horn of Africa not seen in years…
Analysts caution that Somali piracy poses nowhere near the threat it did in 2011, when navies around the world had to deploy warships to beat back the scourge and restore order at sea, But this recent upswing in pirate activity has raised further concerns about marine security and shipping at a time when crucial trade corridors off Yemen have come under siege.
The UK Marine Trade Operations, which monitors piracy, recorded six incidents off Somalia’s coast since mid-December, from approaches by crews armed with machine guns and rocket launchers, to successful hijackings, The MICA Center, a French maritime security agency, noted the “possible resurgence” of piracy off Somalia in a 2023 report. It recorded nine attacks over that year, describing the number as “novel”.
Many of these incidents occurred off Puntland, the historic hub of Somali piracy. The northern state wraps around the Horn of Africa and boasts long coastlines on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Eric Jaslin, Commander of the MICA Center, said the increase occurred “almost simultaneously” as Yemen-based Huthi rebels began targeting boats headed for Israel in retaliation for the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. “Almost at the same time, we began to observe a phenomena of piracy against dhows off the coast of Puntland,” he said, referring to the traditional wooden fishing boats that sail the Indian Ocean.
