A fourth vessel has been hijacked by Somali pirates, this time off the coast of Yemen. The oil tanker MT Eureka was captured in the Gulf of Aden on May 2 and reportedly taken toward Somalia, marking the latest incident in a renewed wave of Somali piracy, which resurfaced in 2023, Statista reports.

Analysts attribute the resurgence to naval resources having turned their attention to Houthi attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, and more recently, to the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

Data from the International Maritime Organization shows that since 2000, East Africa has been the global hotspot for successful hijackings, with 161 cases recorded. This figure is largely the result of Somali piracy, which peaked between 2007 and 2012. West Africa ranks second, with 52 hijackings over the same period.

It’s the South China Sea, however, that has recorded the highest overall number of piracy incidents, with more than 2,000 recorded since 2000. These were mostly lower-level attacks, alongside 42 successful hijackings. High shipping traffic and the region’s island chains, which provide ideal hiding spots, have contributed to the high frequency of attacks over the years. Incidents of piracy and armed robbery of ships have declined sharply from 142 in 2013 to just 10 in 2024, partly thanks to increased cooperation between states.

The adjacent Strait of Malacca has followed a different pattern. After peaking in 2015 with 134 reported attacks, incidents fell sharply to just 21 in 2016. Since then, numbers have climbed again, reaching 91 in 2024, marking the highest of any region that year. Most attacks are low-level, night-time thefts, which are largely driven by poverty and economic hardship. According to the ICC International Maritime Bureau, incidents in the Singapore Strait increased in early 2025, including cases involving firearms, before dropping later in the year after Indonesian authorities disrupted two gangs.

Meanwhile, West Africa saw 17 piracy incidents in 2024. While down from the peak years of 2018 to 2020, when the region was the world’s hotspot for piracy incidents with 81, 67 and 90 attacks, respectively, it continues to be among the higher-risk zones for kidnappings. In 2024, 42 people were taken hostage, following 68 in 2023. Over the past two decades, the region has been among the most dangerous in terms of fatalities for seafarers too, accounting for 11 out of the 32 piracy-related deaths reported worldwide since 2000.

Experts warn that the true scale of global piracy is likely higher, especially as many low-level incidents and attempted boardings go unreported.

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At least four ships have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia in recent weeks, stoking fears of a piracy resurgence in the region. Officials say the rise in attacks is connected to the war in Iran, as pirates are taking the opportunity to act while naval forces are preoccupied with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The EU’s Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean has called for all vessels in the area to maintain “heightened vigilance”, especially between Mogadishu and Hafun.

Somalia has a decades-long history of piracy. Attacks off the country's coast reached their peak in 2011, when the International Maritime Organization recorded 286 incidents, including both attempted and successful attacks. A coordinated international response, including naval patrols and onboard security, then drove a steep decline, with cases falling to 99 in 2012 and just 12 by 2015. For three consecutive years between 2020 and 2022, no incidents were reported to the IMO in this area at all.

But these figures only tell part of the story. In 2009, most piracy cases were concentrated off East Africa, where 222 incidents, including 48 hijackings, were recorded. By 2010, however, Somali pirates had started to use captured dhows, fishing vessels and merchant ships as “motherships” in order to extend their operational reach. As a result, incidents off East Africa fell to 172, while attacks in the Indian Ocean rose from 27 to 77 (including a rise from two hijackings to 20). Activity in the Arabian Sea also increased over the same period, from two to 16.

Even as overall incidents of Somalia-based piracy dropped in 2012 (from 286 to 99), pirates became marginally more efficient. In 2011, 33 of 286 attacks resulted in hijackings (an 11.5 percent success rate). A year later, 13 of 99 attacks led to hijackings, pushing the success rate slightly higher to just over 13 percent, with many cases involving smaller vessels such as dhows and fishing boats.

By 2014, incidents linked to Somalia-based pirates had fallen to 12, well below the 78 recorded in 2007, when the phenomenon was prevalent. Still, the threat had not fully disappeared. Activity ticked up again in the Arabian Sea in 2016 and 2017, with four vessels successfully boarded and hijacked in the latter year by Somalia pirates.

After a period of relative calm, piracy re-emerged in the region in late 2023. Analysts attribute this uptick to the diversion of naval patrols to the Red Sea following Houthi attacks on vessels in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, declared by the Houthis to be in support of civilians in Gaza.

In December, armed men hijacked bulk carrier “Ruen” and sailed it towards the Somali coast. The situation escalated when the chief officer was shot before being evacuated. The vessel was eventually intercepted by an Indian Navy warship, which detained all 35 pirates and secured the crew.

The following year saw a further rise in reported attacks, with eight incidents recorded by the IMO. These included the hijacking of fishing vessels. In one case, six to seven armed pirates had boarded a fishing vessel, releasing the 21 crew and boat after food and logistical supplies were taken.

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