JERUSALEM (AP) — A European naval force detained six piracy suspects on Friday after they opened fire on an oil tanker traveling through the Gulf of Aden, officials said, likely part of a growing number of piracy attacks emanating from Somalia.
The attack on the Marshall Islands-flagged Chrystal Arctic comes as Yemen’s Houthi rebels have also attacked ships traveling through the crucial waterway, the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects them. The attacks slowed commercial traffic through the main shipping route to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
The pirates fired at the tanker from a small ship “carrying weapons and ladders,” according to the British military’s Maritime Commercial Operations center, which oversees the Middle East’s shipping lanes. The pirates first opened fire on the Chrystal Arctic, whose armed security team on board returned fire on them, the UKMTO said.
The pirates then abandoned their attempt to seize the tanker, which continued on its way with the entire crew safe, the UKMTO said.
Hours later, the European Union’s naval force in the region known as Operation Atalanta said a frigate operating in the region had detained six suspected pirates. The frigate seized the pirates due to “the unsafe condition of their skiff” and said some had “injuries of varying severity.”
It was not immediately clear whether those injured suffered gunshot wounds in the exchange of fire with the Chrystal Arctic. The EU force declined to give further details “due to the security of operations”.
Once-rampant piracy off the coast of Somalia has declined after a peak in 2011. That year, there were 237 attacks reported in the waters off Somalia. At the time, Somali piracy in the region cost the global economy around $7 billion – with $160 million paid in ransoms, according to monitoring group Oceans Beyond Piracy.
The increase in naval patrols, the strengthening of the central government in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, and other efforts have led to the rejection of piracy.
However, concerns about new attacks have increased in recent months. In the first quarter of 2024, there were five incidents reported off Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
“These incidents have been attributed to Somali pirates demonstrating assembly capabilities, targeting ships at great distances from the Somali coast,” the office warned in April. It added that there were “several reports of hijacked dhows and fishing vessels, which are ideal mother ships for launching attacks at distances from the Somali coast.”
In March, the Indian navy detained dozens of pirates who captured a bulk carrier and took its 17 crew hostage. In April, pirates freed 23 crew members from the Bangladeshi flagged cargo carrier MV Abdullah after seizing the ship. Terms of the launch were not immediately known.
These attacks come as the Houthi campaign has targeted shipping since November as part of its pressure campaign to stop the Israel-Hamas war rages in the Gaza Strip.
