Tanker Seized by Pirates Has Been 'Liberated'

A European Union naval force raced Friday to reach a Malta-flagged tanker held by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The seizure of the Hellas Aphrodite, carrying a load of gasoline from India to South Africa, put its crew of 24 mariners at risk and raised fears of further attacks by the pirates operating in the region, the AP reports. The pirates fired machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in their assault Thursday, later boarding the Hellas Aphrodite as its crew hid in a locked-down citadel, or fortified safe room, aboard the vessel, officials said. A frigate from the EU force reached the ship Friday afternoon and authorities said all 24 crew members were safe and uninjured, reports Reuters.

• "After an early show of force of the Pirate Action Group (PAG) abandoned the Merchant Tanker," the EU Naval Force said in a news release. The force said its flagship ESPS Victoria and its helicopter, patrol, and reconnaissance aircraft, and a special operations team "were involved in the liberation of the Merchant Tanker." The force said an "intensive" search for the pirates is ongoing. "The threat assessment in the area surrounding the incident remains critical," it warned. "The mother ship and the pirates remain in the area."

Earlier Friday, the EU's Operation Atalanta, an anti-piracy coalition, said Friday its "assets are close to the incident and are closing distance, ready to take the appropriate action and to respond respectively to this event." Tracking data analyzed by the AP showed the tanker over 620 miles off the Somali coast.

• As the EU rushed to the scene, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center warned of another incident in the same area on Friday. The UKMTO said a small vessel carrying three people, believed to be part of the same pirate group responsible for the seizure of the Hellas Aphrodite, tried to get close to another ship, but the ship outran the pirate vessel.
• The attack on the Hellas Aphrodite comes after another vessel, the Cayman Islands-flagged Stolt Sagaland, was targeted Monday in a suspected pirate attack that saw its armed security force and the attackers shooting at each other, the EU force said. Other incidents have also been linked to the same pirate gang, believed to be operating from an Iranian fishing boat it earlier seized.
• Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011, when 237 attacks were reported. The threat was diminished by increased international naval patrols, a strengthening central government in Somalia, and other efforts. However, Somali pirate attacks have resumed at a greater pace over the last year, in part due to the insecurity caused by Yemen's Houthi rebels launching attacks in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
• In 2024, there were seven reported incidents off Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau. So far this year, multiple fishing boats have been seized by Somali pirates. The Hellas Aphrodite represents the first commercial ship seized by pirates off Somalia since May 2024.
• This story has been updated with new developments.