Waves of piracy swell off Somalia’s Coast as maritime security concerns mount

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has witnessed a significant uptick in recent months, with maritime security compromised following Houthi militants’ attacks on ships in the Red Sea, triggered by the Israel-Hamas conflict. The director of Somalia’s maritime agency, Hassan Mohamed Afrah, revealed that the nation has experienced five assaults on commercial ships since November, marking the end of a period of relative stability that led the global shipping industry to declassify the Indian Ocean coastline as a “high-risk area” in 2022.

One of the notable incidents occurred in December, when hostages were taken onboard the Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen. A successful rescue operation ensued, conducted by Indian, Japanese, and Spanish warships, marking the first hijacking off the Somali coast since 2017, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

On January 5, the Indian Navy responded to another hijacking attempt on the Liberia-flagged MV Lila Norfolk, only to find that the pirates had already escaped. Additionally, Somali soldiers engaged with hijackers off the coast of Galmudug State last week, successfully reclaiming a commercial vessel owned by local businessmen.

In parallel, small Iranian fishing vessels have become targets of piracy, with at least five incidents reported in recent weeks, as noted by Crisis 24, an international security consultancy.

Hassan Mohamed Afrah attributed the surge in piracy to the withdrawal of European military vessels from the area and the diversion of US forces’ attention to the Red Sea tension with Houthis in Yemen. Container ships, rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa instead of traversing the Red Sea to and from the Suez Canal, are now adding weeks to their routes.

Afrah expressed concern about the impact on maritime traffic, stating, “The EU naval forces that would keep pirates at bay have left the area, and the US naval forces are also busy with the Red Sea tension, causing the pirates to re-emerge and exploit the situation.”

In 2023, a total of 28,082 vessels navigated along Somalia’s coastline, according to Afrah. The Shippers Council of Eastern Africa, based in Kenya, has cautioned that the persistence of piracy could lead to increased costs for shippers and disrupt supply chains, including the export of Kenyan tea.