Somalia: Pirateship on a Bangladesh Flag

Her naval security service and the company for maritime safety “Ambrey” said they received reports of piracy on a ship off the British naval security agency of Britain “UKMTO” said the incident occurred 600 nautical miles east of the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu. “Unauthorized people are now in control of the ship,” UKMTO said in an announcement, adding that these people boarded the ship by a small and large vessel. Ambrey reported that in the incident off Somalia 20 gunmen were involved on board a dry cargo ship flying the flag of Bangladesh. The ship sailed to Hamriya, in the United Arab Emirates, from Maputo, Mozambique, Ambrey said. “There have been conflicting reports regarding where the crew is,” said Ambrey in an announcement. If the incident is confirmed to be a piracy attack, it could trigger concerns about the reappearance of Somali piracy in the Indian ocean. Naval security sources stated in December that according to their assessment an attack that month was the first piracy on a merchant ship by Somali pirates since 2017. Pirates who caused chaos on major channels from 2008 to 2018 may have returned, sources said, possibly motivated by a security relaxation, or exploiting the chaos caused by attacks on ships by Yemen’s Huthi rebels, supported by Iran, amid the Gaza war.