EU Naval Force Captures Six Suspected Pirates Following Attempted Hijack in Gulf of Aden

A European naval force has apprehended six suspected pirates following an attempted hijacking of an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, near the coast of Somalia. The Marshall Islands-registered Chrystal Arctic was fired upon by pirates travelling in a small boat carrying weapons and ladders, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre, which monitors shipping in the region. An armed security team aboard the vessel returned fire, causing the assailants to abandon the attack. The EU’s Operation Atalanta later confirmed that it had intercepted and held the suspect pirates due to the “unsafe condition” of their skiff, revealing that some of them sustained injuries. This incident represents a surge in piracy activity in the region, with the International Maritime Bureau reporting five suspicious occurrences off the Somali coast during the first quarter of this year, with four of these being attributed to Somali pirates. These pirates continue to exhibit increasing abilities, as demonstrated by their ability to target vessels far from the Somali coastline. The most recent pirate attack occurred in March when Indian forces arrested several dozen pirates after they seized a bulk carrier and captured its 17-member crew. Additionally, in April, pirates released 23 crew members of the Bangladeshi-flagged cargo carrier MV Abdullah after seizing the vessel. The conditions surrounding these releases remain unknown. This increase in piracy follows a pattern of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against vessels passing through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links these areas to the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal, respectively. These attacks have disrupted commercial navigation in the critical waterway. Piracy off the coast of Somalia reached a peak in 2011, with 237 reported incidents occurring that year alone. These incidents cost the global economy approximately $7bn, with $160m being paid out in ransoms. Increased naval patrols, a stronger central government in Mogadishu, and other measures led to a reduction in pirate activity in the region. However, concerns regarding further attacks continue to grow.