Piracy Incidents

Pirate skiffs were scared away from a private yacht off Yemen when Japanese and Pakistani warships came into view.

There has been a significant increase in reports of maritime piracy related incidents in February 2018. West Africa in particular has seen a number of merchant ships experience aggressive encounters with pirate vessels..

The Horn of Africa has also been experiencing increased reports of suspicious vessels and approaches, with at least two attacks on merchant vessels in February being thwarted by the on board private maritime security teams.

An Iranian and Thai fishing vessel have both been targeted by Somali pirates.

The start of this week has focused on the worrying ‘Pirate Blitz’ that occurred within a 30 hour window from Friday 21st August to Saturday 22nd August, off the coast of Singapore.

Six vessels were targeted by between five and six opportunistic thieves armed with knives who are all thought to be part of the same pirate organisation.

Three Nigerian crew members who were kidnapped from a small passenger boat in April have been released.

On the night of the 8th April 2015 a small passenger boat, operated by French company Bourbon, was boarded by pirates off of the Nigerian coast. Three Nigerian crew members were taken hostage.

Just over 4 weeks after the kidnapping took place, it has been announced that all three hostages have been released and appear to be in good health.

An Iranian vessel that was fishing illegally in Somalia was seized by pirates, in the first successful hijacking in the region in almost 3 years.

Head of UN's office on Drugs and Crime, Alan Cole, has since warned of a potential resurgence in piracy in the region, following this latest hijacking, as well as the current unrest surrounding the Gulf of Aden and Bab El-Mandeb Strait.