A recent increase in piracy attempts against commercial vessels in the Indian Ocean is a cause for concern after a cargo ship seized in mid-December continues to be detained off Somalia for the first time since 2012, the Greek press reports.

According to international media, the 41,600-ton dry cargo ship Ruen, built in 2016 and owned by the Bulgarian company Navigation Maritime Bulgare JSC (Navibulgar), is the first ship captured by Somali pirates in recent years.

The Maritime Security Center for the Horn of Africa (MSCHOA), a monitoring service, counted six confirmed cases of piracy and three attempted attacks. On November 26, 2023, the Central Park tanker under the Liberian flag captured by pirates was released by the American military. On December 14, 2023, the bulk carrier “Rouen” was captured by pirates and is still off the coast of Somalia. Another confirmed case of piracy occurred on January 4, 2024, on the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Lila Norfolk. The ship was released by the Indian Navy.

On January 27, 2024, an attempted piracy occurred on the Liberian-flagged bulker Waimea. A firefight began between the armed guards and the pirate ship. Suspicious approaches also occurred on January 28, 2024 with the US-flagged container ship MSC Clementina, and on January 29, 2024 with the Panamanian-flagged tanker Panta Rei, with no additional incident information.

Recently, two fishing boats, one from Iran, the other from Sri Lanka, which had been captured by Somali pirates, were released by the Seychelles Navy following the intervention of the Indian Navy.

UK Indian Ocean Warning

The British Merchant Marine has warned that pirate groups in the Indian Ocean are likely to become more active. On Sunday, January 28, the UKMTO (United Kingdom’s Maritime Merchant Operations, Merchant Fleet Operations Centre) reported that a boat with five people “aggressively” approached the vessel 70 nautical miles northwest of Bosaso, Somalia. Four of the men had Kalashnikov assault rifles and none were in uniform. They came to within 400 meters of the ship, but retreated after armed guards fired two warning shots.

International security officials say how the MV RUEN case is resolved will be crucial to the future of piracy as it will test whether piracy remains a profitable “business”.

But the incidents are already escalating as a naval presence in the region is deployed to counter Yemen’s Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea.

The Indian Ocean Commission, a UN-appointed anti-piracy group, wants the UN to hold an emergency meeting to consider how to respond.

Significant growth of piracy

“These incidents indicate a significant increase in piracy,” says the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). Piracy raged off Somalia for four years starting in 2008, but then subsided for about five years. The annual report of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recorded 120 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2023, compared to 115 in 2022. The annual report for the year 2023 shows that pirates boarded 105 ships, and nine ships were attacked. , that four ships were captured and that two ships were fired upon.

The number of incidents reported in 2023 increased slightly compared to 2022. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) is focusing on crew safety as the number of crew members kidnapped and held hostage increased from 41 to 73 and from two to 14 in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, 10 more crew members were threatened, four were injured and one was attacked.

The article was prepared with the support of the Rador Radio Romania agency