07/11/2025
Tanker hijacked off Somalia
Incident took place 550 nautical miles off Mogadishu
06 Nov 2025
PIRATES have boarded a product tanker off the Somali coast only days after a near miss in the same region.
Malta-flagged, 49,992 Hellas Aphrodite (IMO: 9722766), owned by Latsco Shipping, was travelling south, bound for Durban carrying gasoline, when at 0712 hrs the master reported seeing a small craft on the vessel’s starboard side.
There were multiple people on board the small craft, the master reported, and a mothership was following behind at a distance of 7 nm.
Hellas Aphrodite performed evasive manoeuvres and increased speed to 14 knots.
EOS Risk Group head of advisory Martin Kelly told Lloyd’s List the small craft fired on the tanker and even launched RPGs towards the vessel.
There was no armed security team on board.
The tanker’s 24-strong crew retreated to the vessel’s citadel, where they remain.
Latsco Shipping has since confirmed the incident and said it is in contact with the crew, all 24 of whom are accounted for.
The nearest naval asset, an Eunavfor Operation Atalanta frigate, is at least half a day’s transit away from the vessel.
This latest incident follows two attempted attacks on November 2 and November 3 (including one on a Stolt-Nielsen chemical tanker), which Kelly said was conducted by the same pirate group.
Somali piracy has been on the wane since March 2024, when the Indian navy successfully rescued all 17 crew from Malta-flagged bulk carrier, Ruen (IMO: 9754903).
But since that show of force, concerns have mounted about links between piracy groups in the area and al-Shabaab and the Houthis, which have provided both weapons, expertise and funding.
BIMCO chief safety and security officer Jakob Larsen said his organisation was “uneasy about a potential return of Somali piracy on a larger scale”.
“We are comforted by the fact that merchant ships are aware of the piracy threat and generally plan accordingly, and that EU’s Operation Atalanta and the Indian Navy remains on their toes in the area. We cross fingers that the combination of industry best practices for maritime security and naval support will be enough to suppress the piracy threat.”
The Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean has warned vessels to avoid the area, maintain full vigilance, implement best management practices and report any suspicious activity immediately to MSCIO or UKMTO
SOURCEđź“·Lloyd's List
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Tanker hijacked off Somalia
Incident took place 550 nautical miles off Mogadishu
06 Nov 2025
PIRATES have boarded a product tanker off the Somali coast only days after a near miss in the same region.
Malta-flagged, 49,992 Hellas Aphrodite (IMO: 9722766), owned by Latsco Shipping, was travelling south, bound for Durban carrying gasoline, when at 0712 hrs the master reported seeing a small craft on the vessel’s starboard side.
There were multiple people on board the small craft, the master reported, and a mothership was following behind at a distance of 7 nm.
Hellas Aphrodite performed evasive manoeuvres and increased speed to 14 knots.
EOS Risk Group head of advisory Martin Kelly told Lloyd’s List the small craft fired on the tanker and even launched RPGs towards the vessel.
There was no armed security team on board.
The tanker’s 24-strong crew retreated to the vessel’s citadel, where they remain.
Latsco Shipping has since confirmed the incident and said it is in contact with the crew, all 24 of whom are accounted for.
The nearest naval asset, an Eunavfor Operation Atalanta frigate, is at least half a day’s transit away from the vessel.
This latest incident follows two attempted attacks on November 2 and November 3 (including one on a Stolt-Nielsen chemical tanker), which Kelly said was conducted by the same pirate group.
Somali piracy has been on the wane since March 2024, when the Indian navy successfully rescued all 17 crew from Malta-flagged bulk carrier, Ruen (IMO: 9754903).
But since that show of force, concerns have mounted about links between piracy groups in the area and al-Shabaab and the Houthis, which have provided both weapons, expertise and funding.
BIMCO chief safety and security officer Jakob Larsen said his organisation was “uneasy about a potential return of Somali piracy on a larger scale”.
“We are comforted by the fact that merchant ships are aware of the piracy threat and generally plan accordingly, and that EU’s Operation Atalanta and the Indian Navy remains on their toes in the area. We cross fingers that the combination of industry best practices for maritime security and naval support will be enough to suppress the piracy threat.”
The Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean has warned vessels to avoid the area, maintain full vigilance, implement best management practices and report any suspicious activity immediately to MSCIO or UKMTO
SOURCEđź“·Lloyd's List
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