Four days after securing the release of a Yemeni fishing dhow from suspected pirates off Somalia, Operation Atalanta was again alerted to a similar incident in the same area.
The previous hijacking, involving the dhow Al Najma, was off Eyl on the northern Puntland coast with the latest incident reported when the as yet unnamed Yemeni-flagged fishing boat was off Garmaal, termed “a coastline in the Eyl district”.
“The incident is under investigation,” EU (European Union) NavFor (Naval Force) Operation Atalanta said in a statement adding, “the event is being monitored”. Apart from the Atalanta assets, the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a 46 nation naval partnership; the Yemeni Coast Guard and Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF), a key Somali law enforcement force in the fight against piracy, are all part of the information exchange and stand by to assist.
The incident comes 10 days after the reported attack on the Al Najma and is another example of the vigilance shown by Atalanta personnel and their western Indian Ocean partners.
Along with the December attack on a Chinese-flagged fishing vessel in Somali waters, this week’s incident is the third in just over two months in the same waters. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB), affiliated to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commercial Crime Services Division UCS, notes in its 2024 piracy overview “at least eight incidents” were reported in East Africa. These included three hijackings – two fishing vessels and a bulk carrier.
