Somali piracy is back in the spotlight after four attacks in as many days, including two vessel hijackings, prompting authorities to raise the threat level for the region and warn commercial shipping to exercise extreme caution.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported yesterday that a cargo ship located six nautical miles northeast of Garacad, Somalia had been taken over by unauthorised persons and redirected into Somali territorial waters – the second hijacking in less than a week.

The incident follows the seizure of the Palau-flagged product tanker Honour 25 on April 21, when six gunmen boarded the vessel approximately 30 nautical miles offshore. The tanker, carrying 18,500 barrels of oil and 17 crew members, was subsequently manoeuvred 77 nautical miles south into Somali territorial waters. A Somali-flagged fishing vessel was also hijacked near Xaafuun on April 23, and an attempted armed boarding was reported 83 nautical miles off Eyl.

The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) has responded by upgrading its threat level for the Somali Coast and Somali Basin to “substantial,” indicating that an attack is a “strong possibility.”

The resurgence comes at a deeply difficult moment for regional maritime security. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to shipping amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, with nearly 1,000 ships and 20,000 crew stranded in the Arabian Gulf. The prospect of renewed Houthi activity in the Red Sea adds further pressure, though no attacks on commercial shipping have been reported there during the latest conflict.

Somali piracy last peaked in 2011, when more than 200 attacks were recorded in a single year.