Incident Alert – Piracy Hijack off Somali Coast

Incident Details

MSCHOA have reported a piracy hijack incident in the Somali Basin.  MSCHOA Alert 050/2024 states that a fishing vessel was hijacked 69nm East of the Somalia coast (120nm southeast of Eyl). A skiff manned with 6-7 pirates carrying Kalashnikov rifles attacked the vessel before seizing it. The ship’s AIS tracker is not currently active.

Comment

Prior to this incident, the last attempted hijack, which took place on 10 May 2024, was successfully repelled by an armed security team (AST), demonstrating the importance of complying with BMP 5 counter-piracy measures and the value that an embarked AST provides. The recent MV ABDULLAH hijacking demonstrated the profitable nature of piracy as a $5million USD ransom was paid for its release. There have been 19 confirmed successful hijackings since November 2023 and a reported 4 active PAGs currently operating in this region.

 Assessment

The frequency and scale of piracy attacks has significantly risen over the past year. It is likely that these incidents will continue to rise in frequency and scale as their operations become more profitable. The PAGs expanding their operations up to 1000nm off the Somali coast, and willingly engaging vessels via small arms, also increases the threat level of ships passing this region.