Key facts
- The Azini was hijacked on Thursday between Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a Puntland Maritime Police Force officer said.
- The officer told The Associated Press that 12 pirates seized the vessel, which carried 21 Iranian crew and two Somali guards.
- The Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean said in an alert dated Saturday that the crew's safety was unknown.
- The center warned pirates could use the vessel as a mother ship to support attacks on commercial vessels.
- By August, pirates had hijacked six commercial vessels since April, including the tanker Sibu 1 off Yemen.
- Puntland authorities said pirates killed five crew of the tanker MT Honour 25 in September before security forces recovered it.
Somali pirates seized an Iranian fishing vessel carrying 23 people, the European Union's Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean said, warning that the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could become a floating base for further attacks.
The Azini was hijacked on Thursday between the coastal towns of Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a maritime security officer with the Puntland Maritime Police Force said on Sunday. The officer told The Associated Press that 12 pirates seized the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali security guards. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media.
The crew's safety was unknown, the center said in an alert dated Saturday. In an updated warning, it said pirates could use the vessel as a mother ship to support attacks on commercial vessels. The European Union's naval Operation Atalanta was investigating, and the center urged ships in the area to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity.
The seizure follows a resurgence of Somali piracy across the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean. By August, pirates had hijacked six commercial vessels since April, with some attacks taking place far from Somalia's coastline. The captures included the oil products tanker Sibu 1, seized about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) east of al-Mukalla, Yemen.
In September, Puntland authorities said pirates killed five crew members of the tanker MT Honour 25 before security forces recovered the vessel. The tanker had been held since April, and authorities said 16 suspected pirates were detained.
The renewed piracy adds another danger for shipping in a region already disrupted by the Iran war. Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and threats by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi-linked shipping through Bab el-Mandeb have complicated routes used to move oil to world markets. Those disruptions have lengthened voyages and driven up tanker costs.
The AP reported in September that some oil shipments diverted around Africa faced journeys up to a month longer, while daily spot charter rates for tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz had reached $1 million. International naval patrols and improved maritime security sharply reduced Somali piracy over the past decade, and the latest seizures have renewed concerns about the threat to vessels off the country's long coastline.