Pirates hijack oil tanker with 17 crew off Somali coast

Saturday April 25, 2026

An oil tanker was left under guard after being freed, a stark reminder of how quickly piracy can again unsettle the waters off Somalia. Somali pirates have hijacked four ships in the past month.Credit…Abdiqani Hassan/Reuters

Mogadishu (AX) — Somali pirates seized an oil tanker carrying 18,500 barrels of fuel and 17 crew members off Somalia’s northeastern coast, officials said Friday.

The ship, identified as Honour 25, was taken late Wednesday by at least six armed men roughly 30 nautical miles offshore, according to security officials in Puntland State.

The tanker had been heading to Mogadishu and is now anchored near the coast between the fishing towns of Xaafun and Bander Beyla, officials said. They added that more armed men have since boarded the vessel after the initial takeover.

The crew consists of 17 foreign nationals: ten Pakistanis, four Indonesians, one Indian, one Sri Lankan and one from Myanmar, though their condition remains unclear.

Authorities believe the assailants launched the operation from a remote coastal area near Bander Beyla, but how they managed to intercept the vessel has not been confirmed.

The hijacking is expected to deepen concern in Mogadishu, where fuel prices have already risen sharply amid regional tensions tied to the ongoing U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.

Neither Somalia’s federal government nor international naval forces operating in the region have issued official statements on the incident.

Piracy off Somalia’s coast had fallen sharply over the past decade because of international patrols and stronger security measures. But attacks have resurfaced in recent years, often targeting fishing boats and commercial vessels, fueling fears of a wider comeback along one of the world’s most strategically vital shipping lanes.