March 19 ------ Reports were received yesterday, of a Yemeni-flagged fishing boat that EUNAVFOR officials believe has been hijacked by Somali pirates. Operation Atalanta is involved as the authorities monitor the vessel and warn of the continued danger in the region. The report indicates that seven hijackers are aboard the dhow. They are believed to have taken control of the vessel off Durdura, in the vicinity of Ely, which is on the northern coast of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region within Somalia and the same area where other vessels have been attacked.
Atalanta says there is a crew of eight Somali nationals aboard the vessel. It is monitoring the situation and coordinating with the Combined Maritime Forces and the Yemeni Coast Guard. It is the second incident this year with another Yemeni fishing boat taken a month ago on February 17 and held for five days while the pirates robbed the vessel and its crew before fleeing. However, unlike the prior event which was labeled when it started as an armed robbery, this time Atalanta has classified the incident as a hijacking.
There also was an incident in December where pirates armed with AK-47s boarded a Chinese fishing boat and held up to 18 crewmembers. The Chinese embassy reported the vessel was freed in mid-January.
The last vessel that Atalanta classified as hijacked was in May 2024 after a rash of incidents that started in late 2023 around the same time the Houthis in Yemen began attacking shipping. Most of the attacks have been against smaller fishing vessels, but Atalanta continues to warn of the regional danger. Based on the continuing dangers, the European Union at the end of 2024 extended the mandate for the Atalanta mission at least until early 2027.
Atalanta was formed in late 2008 and undertook its first patrols in 2009. To date, it reports it has assisted in the capture and conviction of 145 pirates.
Source: maritime-executive.com
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