Three Vessels Held by Somali Pirates as Naval Patrol Coverage Thins

St Kitts and Nevis-flagged MV Sward. Image courtesy of ShipSpotting.

Three commercial vessels seized in the western Indian Ocean between 21 April and 2 May remain under Somali pirate control as of 8 May, according to reporting by Al Jazeera, Seatrade Maritime, and DefenceWeb. The incidents span a fortnight and involve two oil tankers and a general cargo ship, with crew members from at least four nationalities currently held as hostages.

The first vessel taken was the MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged oil tanker seized on 21 April approximately 30 nautical miles off the Somali coast. The ship was carrying around 18,000 barrels of oil and a crew of 17, including ten Pakistani nationals and an Indonesian captain. It was subsequently anchored off Eyl on the Puntland coast, according to Al Jazeera's account. Five days later, on 26 April, the St Kitts and Nevis-flagged MV Sward was taken roughly six nautical miles north-east of Garacad, also in Puntland waters. The Sward had been carrying cement from Suez to the Kenyan port of Mombasa; her crew of 17 includes 15 Syrian nationals and two Indians, DefenceWeb reported. The third vessel, the oil tanker MT Eureka, was seized on 2 May in the Gulf of Aden near the Yemeni port of Qana, with reporting by Meykaplacing her on course for the Somali coastline in the days that followed.

The Gulf of Aden and Puntland coast fall within the patrol zone of EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta, the EU counter-piracy mission established in 2008, supplemented by Combined Maritime Forces and NATO assets. Those naval patrols, combined with BMP (Best Management Practices) compliance and privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP), drove piracy incidents in the High Risk Area from hundreds per year at the 2011 peak to single figures by the late 2010s. The vessels taken in recent weeks are smaller and lower-value than the supertankers targeted during that earlier crisis — a pattern consistent with opportunistic groups testing reduced patrol coverage rather than organised networks pursuing high-value ransoms. Also in the same period, Somali pirates abandoned a UAE-flagged dhow they had seized earlier, according to Al Jazeera on 7 May, citing dwindling supplies — an indication that not all boarding attempts are converting into sustained hostage operations.

EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta has directly attributed the resurgence to the redistribution of naval capacity elsewhere. "This situation would give the impression that the military focus is diverted from the area, so piracy groups can understand there is a window of opportunity," the force said, as reported by Insurance Journal on 29 April. Naval resources were first drawn north to counter Houthi missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea from late 2023. Since February 2026, additional capacity has been directed toward the Strait of Hormuz, where the US-Iran conflict continues. The Red Sea diversion has also introduced a structural exposure: vessels rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb now transit for two to three additional weeks within reach of Somalia's coastline and the Gulf of Aden approach, as Hiiraan Online noted in May.

The Marshall Islands Registry issued a security advisory (SSA-2026-04) urging masters transiting the High Risk Area to register with UKMTO, apply BMP5 protocols, and report suspicious approaches immediately. Industry guidance has not materially changed: citadel preparation, razor-wire deployment, and PCASP remain the primary self-protection layers in the absence of naval escorts on individual transits.

As of 8 May, the Honour 25, Sward, and Eureka remain under pirate control and no releases have been publicly reported. EUNAVFOR Atalanta and Combined Maritime Forces continue to conduct patrols in the High Risk Area, though the force has not announced operations directly targeting the seized vessels. The patrol resource picture — with naval assets distributed across the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Hormuz — remains the same as it was when the first of these three ships was taken.

MariTrace tracks vessel movements and security incidents across the western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden; the platform is available here.

Sources

• Al Jazeera — Why is piracy rising off Somalia again — and is the Iran war responsible? (1 May 2026)

• Insurance Journal — Iran War Fuels Piracy Surge Off Somalia Coast, EU Agency Says (29 April 2026)

• Seatrade Maritime — Somali piracy warning as second ship hijacked

• DefenceWeb — Second vessel hijacked off Somalia, raising fears of piracy resurgence

• Al Jazeera — Somali pirates abandon hijacked UAE dhow due to dwindling supplies (7 May 2026)

• Meyka — Somalia Piracy May 03: Oil Tanker Hijacked in Gulf of Aden

• Hiiraan Online — Somali piracy threatens ships rerouted from Middle East

• Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime Administrator — SSA-2026-04