Suspected pirates board merchant vessel off coast of Somalia

Attackers firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades boarded a tanker carrying gasoline off the coast of Somalia on Thursday, authorities said, likely the latest assault by resurgent Somali pirates operating in the region.

A series of recent attacks attributed to Somali pirates had put shippers on edge even before Thursday's seizure of the Malta-flagged Hellas Aphrodite. The capture of the vessel represents the first commercial ship taken by pirates off Somalia in over a year and raised fears of more assaults.

"This is an unprecedented series of events targeting merchant vessels since the hijacking of the MV Basilisk in May 2024," France's Maritime Information Cooperation and Awareness Center warned. "Pirates are agile, determined, move between areas and have real reach."

The attack on Thursday morning targeted the Hellas Aphrodite as it carried a load of gasoline from Sikka, India, to Durban, South Africa, the ship's owner Latsco Marine Management Inc. said.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center and the private security firms Ambrey described the attackers as using weaponry including RPGs. Its crew of 24 locked themselves in the ship's citadel as the attack happened. The ship reportedly carried no armed security.

"All 24 crew are safe and accounted for, and we remain in close contact with them," Latsco said. The firm "has activated its emergency response team and is coordinating with the relevant authorities to ensure the continued safety and welfare of the crew."

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, called the Issamohamadi.

The European Union's Operation Atalanta, a counter-piracy mission around the Horn of Africa, issued a statement saying it had an "asset" nearby and was "closing distance, ready to take the appropriate actions to respond effectively to this piracy alert." That EU force has responded to other recent pirate attacks in the area and had issued a recent alert to shippers that a pirate group was operating off Somalia and assaults were "almost certain" to happen.

FILE - Fishermen stand on the Indian Ocean beach at dusk in the former pirate village of Eyl, in Somalia's semiautonomous state of Puntland, Somalia, Monday March 6 2017 Ben Curtis/Copyright 2017 The AP. All rights reserved. Thursday's attack comes after another vessel, the Cayman Islands-flagged Stolt Sagaland, found itself targeted in a suspected pirate attack that included both its armed security force and the attackers shooting at each other, the EU force said.

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, Somali pirate attacks have resumed at a greater pace over the last year, in part due to the insecurity caused by Yemen's Houthi rebels launching attacks in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

In 2024, there were seven reported incidents off Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau. So far this year, multiple fishing boats have been seized by Somali pirates.

Based on reporting by Africanews.