The perceptible lull in sea piracy off the coast of Somalia has unfortunately made way for a resurgence in attacks on maritime sea trade and hijacking of commercial vessels, mainly as a spillover of violence because of what’s happening in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Latest data for the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) shows 33 incidents of piracy and robbery along the coast of Somalia, predominantly south of the Horn of Africa and Mogadishu.
It marks an 18.2% increase in seaborne criminality for the same period last year.
A report by the IMB, a division of the International Chamber of Commerce, has found that in 24 of the incidents in Q1, vessels were successfully boarded by heavily armed assailants.
One vessel, a bulk carrier called the Abdullah, was hijacked by pirates more than 1 100 kilometres off the coast of Mogadishu as it was making its way with a load of coal from Mozambique to the UAE.
Its crew of 23 was taken hostage, bringing to 35 the number of seafarers captured by pirates.
In another incident, bandits opened fire on the vessel and crew of a ship that tried to avoid violent interference.
According to a Bloomberg report from January 2024, piracy off Somalia's coast has increased since maritime security was disrupted by Houthi militants' attacks on ships in the Red Sea in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
The Horn of Africa nation has recorded five assaults on commercial ships off its coast since November.
This is a significant increase from the previous period of stability that prompted the global shipping industry to declassify the coastline on the Indian Ocean as a "high-risk area" in 2022.
The successful capture of a foreign vessel in December 2023 was the first by Somali pirates since 2017, and it follows a spike in armed seaborne attacks around the Horn of Africa not seen in years.
The UK Marine Trade Operations recorded six incidents off Somalia's coast since mid-December, from approaches by crews armed with machine guns and rocket launchers, to successful hijackings.
The MICA Center, a French maritime security agency, noted the "possible resurgence" of piracy off Somalia in a 2023 report, recording nine attacks over that year, and describing the number as "novel".
Many of these incidents occurred off Puntland, the historic hub of Somali piracy.
