Somali pirate attack

Pirates fire on merchant vessel.

Attack repelled by ship’s armed security team.

According to an alert released by UKMTO on October 16th, a merchant vessel was attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia.

The incident took place around 340 nautical miles off Mogadishu, when a skiff containing four pirates armed with AK-47 rifles approached and fired on a merchant vessel. The ship’s Master raised the alarm and the embarked armed security team returned fire, causing the pirates to abort their attack.

This is the first notable incident in Somalia’s waters in some time. Following the monsoon season, it was anticipated that pirate groups may return to the water, although their success rate has fallen dramatically since the adoption of armed security teams by the shipping industry.