According to the European Union’s Somali counter piracy force, a Spanish navy ship is en route at top speed toward a Maltese-flagged commercial vessel that may have been hijacked by pirates off Somalia.
If confirmed, this would be the first successful hijacking involving Somali pirates since 2017, when international navies cracked down and prevented further incidents in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
The EUNAVFOR’s joint operations centre in Spain received an alert on Thursday concerning the “alleged pirate-hijacked vessel” Ruen, 500 nautical miles east of Socotra Island, off Somalia.
According to a source in Somalia’s breakaway Puntland region, pirates may have indeed seized a vessel. Mukhtar Mohamud, a member of a group that has organized raids in the past, said that “six of my pirate friends managed to capture a ship and they will bring it to the coast of the eastern region of Puntland.”
EUNAVFOR stated that the Spanish warship Victoria had been dispatched to gather more information and evaluate further actions. The force remains vigilant and is coordinating with the broader international naval Combined Maritime Force.
British maritime security company Ambrey believes the Ruen has been hijacked by pirates. Additionally, Britain’s maritime body UKMTO received a report from a ship’s security officer who believed that the crew no longer had control of a vessel heading towards Somalia.
The Ruen is managed by Bulgaria’s Navigation Maritime Bulgare. The vessel was last seen under way in the open sea sailing towards Somalia at 1426 GMT, according to ship tracking data on LSEG.
The EUNAVFOR continues to monitor this and other recent piracy-related events in the northwest Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, remaining vigilant about potential threats in the area of operations.
Overall, this incident represents a potential resurgence of piracy in the region and is being closely monitored by international naval forces working to combat piracy in the area.
Reported by Jonathan Saul, with additional reporting by Abdiqani Hassan in Garowe and George Obulutsa in Nairobi. Edited by William Maclean, Christina Fincher, Nick Macfie, and Andrew Heavens.
