Pirate Attacks Surge as EU Fleet Tightens Grip on Gulf of Aden

Seventy-nine pirate attacks have occurred in the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean since November 2023, according to Portuguese Commodore José Rodrigues Pedra, the commander of the European Union's maritime mission at sea. Roughly thirty of those incidents took place after the outbreak of the Iran war in February. The conflict has destabilized societies surrounding shipping lanes that are crucial for the global economy, creating an environment where piracy is rising.

The threat is real enough for Spanish special forces to drill on the decks of the ESPS Santa Maria, a 4,000-ton warship that leads the EU's Operation Atalanta. During a recent exercise, four elite soldiers wearing sunglasses and body armor took turns firing pistols and automatic weapons at targets marked with human organs. The frigate, which is 40 years old, bristles with heavy-caliber guns, artillery, torpedoes, and missiles. More than 200 crew members are deployed on the vessel to maintain a constant watch.

Operation Atalanta has patrolled the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden since 2008. The area includes the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint less than 30 kilometers wide. In peacetime, this strait carries about 12% of the world's trade, including a quarter of all container traffic moving between Asia and Europe. With movement through the Strait of Hormuz severely disrupted, the Bab el-Mandeb has become an alternate route for oil exports from the Gulf, adding to its strategic importance.

Vice Adm. Ignacio Villanueva, commander of Operation Atalanta, explained the connection between regional conflict and sea raiding. He stated, "Instability causes instability. Instability causes illegal activities. Illegal activities cause clans to go to the sea." The mission operates from a French military base in Djibouti, where a surveillance plane conducts aerial patrols using radar and cameras. Information gathered is shared with partner military deployments from European nations, the United States, South Korea, Japan, India, and regional powers.

Piracy has resurged due to economic malaise, malnutrition, and political impasse in Somalia. The U.N. reported in February that around 30% of the population faces critical levels of food insecurity amid deep cuts to international aid. Pirates based in the semiautonomous region of Puntland have seized fuel tankers and captured a Turkish ship carrying weapons. A new tactic involves mounting attacks off the Yemeni coast before taking ships toward Somalia, exploiting the chaos in the southern Arabian Peninsula.

Between April and August this year, six commercial vessels were hijacked. Five were subsequently freed, but the MT Asana, a Tanzanian-flagged tanker captured in July, remained under pirate control in Somali territorial waters as of the Oct. 16 mission update. The International Maritime Organization said 22 seafarers remained captive on board that vessel. During the September operation to recover the tanker Honour 25, which had been held since April, five crew members died. The IMO said 44 seafarers were freed from that vessel and two other tankers, the Eureka and the Sibu 1.

Shipping companies are responding by rerouting vessels and strengthening security, often at higher costs for insurance. Christopher Hockey, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, noted that regional shipping lanes might soon be divided between cargo vessels with costly armed guards and those without. He warned that vessels saving money or engaging in questionable activities are the ones likely to continue being targeted. "No vessel has ever been hijacked with an armed security team on board," Hockey said.