DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Attackers firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades boarded a ship off the coast of on Thursday, British officials said, likely the latest assault by resurgent Somali pirates operating in the region.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center issued an alert over the attack, warning ships in the area.
The private security firm Ambrey also said that an attack was underway, saying it targeted a Malta-flagged tanker heading from Sikka, India, to Durban, South Africa. Ambrey added that it appeared to be an assault by Somali pirates, who have been reported as operating in the area in recent days and who seized an Iranian fishing boat to use as a base of operations.
Iran has not acknowledged the fishing boat’s seizure.
Details of the attacked vessel correspond to the Hellas Aphrodite, which changed its track and slowed down at the time of the attack. The ship’s owners and managers could not immediately be reached for comment.
The European Union’s Operation Atalanta, a counter-piracy mission around the Horn of Africa, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That EU force has responded to other recent pirate attacks in the area.
Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011, when 237 attacks were reported. Somali piracy in the region in 2011 cost the world’s economy some $7 billion, with $160 million paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.
The threat was diminished by increased international naval patrols, a strengthening central government in Somalia, and other efforts.
However, over the last year, in part due to the insecurity caused by Yemen’s Houthi rebels launching over in the Gaza Strip.
In 2024, there were seven reported incidents off Somalia, according to the . So far this year, .
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