قراصنة صوماليون يستولون على سفينة شحن

A British agency revealed today (Monday) that pirates have seized a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia, marking the latest incident of its kind since piracy activities have returned to the Horn of Africa region.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and the European Union's Indian Ocean Maritime Security Centre reported that eight individuals boarded a commercial vessel near the Mararere area in Somalia and took control of it. The European center stated that "the crew is safe at the moment," but neither the agency nor the center specified the name of the ship that was hijacked. Piracy was widespread off the coast of Somalia during the first decade of the millennium, peaking in 2011, before significantly declining due to the deployment of international naval forces and the adoption of new security measures by commercial vessels.

This new operation comes at a time when Somali pirates have resumed their activities after years of a significant decline in their attacks, following the deployment of international naval forces and the implementation of additional security measures by commercial ships.

This year has seen a resurgence of several piracy incidents off the Somali coast, and during April and May, pirates seized three tankers loaded with oil and fertilizers, which are still being held off the Somali coast, while in July, they captured a chemical tanker in Yemeni waters and transferred it to the Somali coast.