Nimi PrincewillSaturday May 16, 2026 An armed Somali pirate stands on the shoreline as a Greek cargo ship lies anchored off Hobyo in northeastern Somalia, in this January 2010 image after the vessel was seized by pirates. Mohamad Dahir/AFP/Getty Images Somali pirates are once again cashing in on turmoil far beyond their waters. As war in Iran forces commercial shipping to take longer routes around Africa, vessels are drifting straight into the pirates’ traditional hunting grounds. The escalating conflict in the Middle East…

Nik MartinTuesday May 12, 2026 Somali pirates have turned large dhows into floating bases, extending their reach and giving them a platform from which to target commercial vesselsImage: EU NAVFOR/Handout/dpa/picture alliance With ships already diverting around Africa to steer clear of conflict zones in the Middle East, piracy off Somalia is surging again. The comeback is adding pressure across global supply chains, driving up insurance bills, lengthening voyages and forcing operators to spend more on security. For the…

By Shola LawalFriday May 1, 2026 A fresh wave of hijackings off Somalia is rattling shipping lanes and reviving memories of the piracy crisis that once made the Horn of Africa one of the world’s most dangerous maritime corridors. At least three vessels have been targeted this week, according to reports, prompting fears that the region may be sliding back toward the turmoil that plagued global trade in the early to mid-2000s before an international naval response helped bring the threat under control. According to the World…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Rising tensions tied to Iran’s regional conflict are now reverberating far beyond the Middle East, with a new Bloomberg report saying the turmoil has helped drive a piracy comeback off Somalia’s coast. European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) personnel in the area say the instability has opened a security gap that Somali pirate groups are moving quickly to exploit. With oversight strained and maritime patrols stretched, pirates are again targeting some of the busiest shipping corridors in the region. The…

Mohamed Gabobe in Mogadishu and Rachel SavageThursday April 30, 2026 The motor vessel Sward was hijacked on Sunday. Photograph: EU naval force Operation ATALANTA A fresh wave of hijackings off Somalia has jolted one of the world’s most sensitive shipping corridors, with three vessels seized in a week and memories of the country’s pirate era suddenly back in focus. The merchant vessel Sward was captured on 26 April, just one day after a dhow was taken. Those incidents came after the 21 April hijacking of Honour 25, a motor…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A string of hijackings off Somalia’s coast has revived one of the region’s most unsettling security threats, with three vessels seized in a single week and fresh concern rippling through the shipping world. The most recent incident involved the commercial vessel Sward, taken on April 26, just days after pirates captured the oil tanker Honour 25 on April 21. The tanker was carrying 18,000 barrels of oil, according to the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean, the European Union’s naval monitoring center.…

Sunday April 26, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — U.S. authorities say they have arrested a Somali national facing passport fraud allegations and suspected of ties to a 2012 piracy case, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The man, identified as Said Jama Ahmed, was detained near the U.S.-Canada border after an off-duty Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer noticed him, officials said in a statement on Friday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested Ahmed on the evening of April 14, 2026, several miles south…

Mogadishu (AX) — The resurgence of pirate activity in the Indian Ocean alongside a surge of armed robberies in the Singapore Strait has reignited international apprehension regarding maritime safety. These notorious acts now pose a renewed threat to crucial global shipping avenues. Alerts from the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) and the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP ISC) have startled ship operators. They advised boosting ship defenses in these…

Garowe (AX) — Abdiqani Dayib Awnur Soolle, one of the marauding sea bandits implicated in the MV Abdalla hijacking, has been apprehended by Northeastern State Security Forces. Authorities nabbed Soolle in the Eyl region and its environs, where he was skulking, according to an official report. Police conveyed that meticulous intelligence gathered on Soolle paved the way for the successful capture. This marks the third apprehension related to the ship's hijacking since it fell into pirate hands in March. In June,…