Somali pirates resurface, hijacking Bangladeshi cargo ship

Somali pirates have returned. At a time when the world's attention is on the pirates from Yemen's Houthi groups, the villains of the Indian Ocean have attacked again. Their victim was a cargo ship from Bangladesh. There are a dozen hostages on board.

Maritime and oceanic transport is laden with a number of dangers. Storms or shallows are obstacles created by nature, however, they are currently not the biggest problem for sailors. The greatest danger for those working at sea comes from modern pirates. Although they no longer wear hooks instead of hands and do not have wooden legs, they are much more dangerous than ever before.

Since 2008, the biggest threat in African waters has been Somali pirates operating around the Horn of Africa. Armed groups have been hijacking ship after ship, spreading terror among sailors and owners of transport companies. In the fight against pirates, Russia, Japan, NATO, the United States, and the Netherlands have united, among others. Many of the ships hijacked had Poles among their crew members.

Since 2011, there has been a significant quieting of Somali pirates' activities. It was assumed that thanks to the hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom obtained, the pirates no longer felt the need to hijack transportation ships. In November 2023, the topic of boat kidnappings returned. This time the aggressors turned out to be Houthi fighters from Yemen, who use helicopters to hijack ships on the Red Sea. The fighters have assured that they will attack any vessel that belongs to a country taking steps against Yemen.

Those who counted on a complete end to the actions of Somali pirates were mistaken. On March 13, 2024, at what would be almost 1:00 PM GMT, an armed group attacked the ship Abdullah, flying the flag of Bangladesh. On board were 23 crew members from Bangladesh. Pirates, after boarding and firing warning shots, took away the sailors' phones. The vessel managed to send a request for help, however, it did not arrive quickly enough.

In a recording provided to the Reuters agency, senior officer Atiq Ullah Khan assured us that no one had been hurt. Currently, the ship has been anchored off the coast of Somalia. At the moment, it is not known whether the situation remains unchanged. The pirates threaten that if they do not receive a ransom of five million dollars, they will murder more crew members.

The President of Somalia is closely monitoring the situation. Officials believe that the problem of pirates is not as serious as it was during the years 2008-2014, however, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is not such an optimist. "Now the movement of pirates is in its infancy, but if we do not stop it, it will revive just as strongly as before," he told journalists.