Jethro Norman Warns Somalia Hijackings Signal Pirate Resurgence
Three vessels have been hijacked off somalia in one week. The merchant vessel Sward was taken over on 26 April about 6 nautical miles from Garacad, after Honour 25 was seized on 21 April and a dhow was taken a day before Sward.
The Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean said all incidents remain ongoing and advised vessels operating in the area to maintain heightened vigilance within 150 nautical miles of the Somali coast between Mogadishu and Hafun where feasible. For shipping companies already rerouting around insecurity in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, the cluster of hijackings adds another stretch of water that now needs closer watch.
Sward off Garacad
Sward left the port of Suez in Egypt on 13 April bound for Mombasa, Kenya, and carried 17 crew members: 15 from Syria and two from India. After the hijacking, the pirates steered the vessel toward the coast and anchored it in a remote area near Garacad.
By Tuesday morning, 20 pirates were on board after four more armed men boarded Sward. Six armed men and an unarmed interpreter fluent in English and Arabic had boarded first, and a shipment of khat was taken out in a small boat to the pirates on Tuesday morning after the khat had been driven about 150 miles from Galkayo on Monday.
Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean
Jethro Norman, a senior researcher with the Danish Institute for International Studies, said pirates had taken advantage of international navies diverting resources toward the Red Sea. He said, “Pirate networks are testing the waters again and they are better equipped than the last generation. GPS, satellite communications and hijacked dhow motherships let them operate hundreds of miles offshore.”
The Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean also said, “Vessels operating in the area are strongly advised to maintain heightened vigilance … particularly within 150NM [nautical miles] of the Somali coast between Mogadishu and Hafun where feasible.”
Somalia piracy since 2011
Piracy around Somalia peaked in 2011 with 212 attacks, before an international naval coalition cut attacks to just a handful each year in 2014. Incidents began to rise again in 2023, and the latest hijackings show how quickly shipping routes can face pressure when armed groups find room to operate farther offshore.
The same waters now sit inside a wider security problem for commercial shipping, with vessels already adjusting to risks tied to the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. That leaves crews moving near the Somali coast with one practical task first: treat the 150 nautical mile warning zone as active risk territory until the vessel clears it.
