Merchant ships using the approaches to Yemen, Somalia and the Gulf of Aden have been hit by a burst of armed small-boat attacks, including RPG fire at a tanker and a failed boarding attempt on a container ship, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations and the Joint Maritime Information Center.
The incidents mark a sharp escalation in the threat picture on a key route linking the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea, although official warnings have not identified the attackers as Somali pirates or confirmed their nationality.
The first confirmed incident took place at 0735 UTC on 15 June, when a container vessel was approached by a small skiff 14 nautical miles south of the coast of Yemen. People in the skiff opened fire and attempted to board the vessel. Hours later, at 1335 UTC, an unidentified tanker 111 nautical miles southeast of Aden was approached by a small skiff carrying four armed people. The attackers opened fire on the tanker with an RPG. A third attack followed at 1610 UTC on 17 June, when an unidentified vessel 105 nautical miles northeast of Aden was approached by two skiffs carrying an unknown number of armed people. The skiffs closed to within four metres before the vessel’s security team returned fire. The skiffs then disengaged and moved more than 4 nautical miles away. The crew were safe.
The Joint Maritime Information Center said threats linked to historic skiff activity and “piracy-related approaches” remained in the Gulf of Aden. It also said Pirate Action Group activity remained possible, particularly in coastal approaches and known small-boat operating areas.
The advisory recommended BMP-compliant watchkeeping through the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor, putting owners, operators and crews on alert over a more aggressive pattern of armed approaches in the region.
UK Maritime Trade Operations is a UK maritime-security reporting and information centre for merchant shipping in the Middle East and Indian Ocean region. It runs a voluntary reporting scheme and acts as a contact point for vessels facing security incidents.
The Joint Maritime Information Center issues maritime-security advisory notes used to assess threat patterns affecting commercial shipping. Its advisory in this case focused on the Gulf of Aden risk picture and was hosted through UKMTO.
