MOGADISHU, Somalia – Suspected Somali pirates have seized a Yemeni fishing boat
off the Horn of Africa, authorities said late Monday- A European naval operation in the
Mideast, known as EUNAVFOR Atalanta, said the incident remained under
investigation.
It said the attack targeted a dhow, a traditional ship that plies the waters of the Mideast,
off the town of Eyl in Somalia.
The maritime security firm Ambrey said the attack saw the suspects steal three small
boats equipped with GO-horsepower engines. Ambrey said early Tuesday “a suspected
pirate action group has been sighted departing” off the coast of Eyl.
Once-rampant piracy off the Somali coast diminished after a peak in 2011. That year,
there were 237 reported attacks in waters off Somalia. Somali piracy in the region at
the time cost the world’s economy some $7 billion — with S160 million paid out in
ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.
Increased international naval patrols, a strengthening central government in
Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, and other efforts saw the piracy beaten back.
However, Somali pirate attacks have resumed at a greater pace over the last year, in
part due to the insecurity caused by Yemen’s Houthi rebels launching their attacks in
the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
In 202/1, there were seven reported incidents off Somalia, according to the
International Maritime Bureau.
