Somali pirates are profiting from the war in Iran as commercial ships, bypassing conflict routes through lengthy detours around Africa, sail into their strike zone.
The intensifying conflict in the Middle East has choked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – a vital route for roughly 20% of the world’s oil, natural gas and critical raw materials. To avoid it, carriers are having to detour around Africa’s southern tip, extending travel times by weeks and pushing maritime traffic directly into the volatile Somali basin.
This rerouting is costing an estimated $1 million in additional expenses per vessel due to soaring fuel, insurance and operational costs. But it has also allowed pirates to make a comeback that threatens to shatter years of relative calm along the Somali coast.
Capitalizing on the increased traffic, pirate networks have executed a wave of back-to-back hijackings in recent weeks, signaling a major resurgence.
Wave of hijackings triggers alarm
According to a May 12 advisory from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), Somali pirates are currently holding at least three vessels: two oil tankers and a general cargo/cement carrier.
The UKMTO, which alerts shipping firms about maritime security risks, confirmed the vessels were captured between April 21 and May 2, including one ship hijacked off the Yemen coast and diverted to Somalia.
Somalia shares a maritime border with Yemen.
Consequently, the agency warned that the “piracy threat level remains severe” along the Somali coast and basin – waters that gained global infamy as a primary hotspot for maritime hijacking during the late 2000s.
Since the early 1990s, Somalia has lacked a functioning central government, allowing piracy to thrive. The crisis intensified when shipping companies began paying ransoms that escalated from thousands to multimillion-dollar payouts.
At its peak in 2011, Somali piracy hit a record 237 incidents, costing the global economy $7 billion. During that year, over 3,800 mariners faced attacks involving assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades – a troubling history that experts fear is beginning to repeat itself.
Only a small number of incidents were recorded off the Somali coast in 2025, according to a report from the International Maritime Bureau in January. It said at the time that “the lack of a broader resurgence in Somali piracy continues to reflect the strong deterrent effect of sustained naval presence.”
The European Union’s naval force, Operation Atalanta, acknowledged the recent rise in piracy in an update last month. The force said it had successfully “liberated” an Iranian-flagged vessel off the coast of Somalia after forcing pirates who had hijacked the dhow to abandon it.
Having patrolled these waters for nearly two decades, the naval force urged transiting vessels to “maintain heightened vigilance” and report suspicious activity.
‘Opportunism’ and a Houthi alliance
Somali lawmaker Mohamed Dini attributed the resurgence in piracy to a combination of external conflict and internal fragility.
“Recent piracy incidents stem from opportunism, with shifting international maritime shipping routes driven by geopolitical crises,” he told CNN.
He added that the current situation in the Middle East, “gives them (the pirates) a pretext to remobilize,” while warning that pirate networks are forging alliances with Yemen’s Houthi forces, who have targeted vessels in the Red Sea as part of their support for Hamas in its conflict with Israel.
In addition to these external influences, Dini emphasized that long-term domestic instability has left Somalia’s coastline vulnerable, weakening local institutions and lowering the risks for pirate networks.
While those behind the recent maritime raids have yet to be identified, previous ship captures have often involved young Somalis from impoverished communities and armed extremists affiliated with global terror networks.
The European Union Naval Force told CNN on Friday it “believes that three pirate action groups are active in the northern part of Somalia,” and that the groups “are resourced with land elements, to provide support, and sea elements.”
A security vacuum
Manu Lekunze, an international relations lecturer at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, said the war in Iran had created a security vacuum that is fueling this piracy resurgence. Naval fleets which previously focused on suppressing pirate raids have now been reassigned to escort cargo ships through the Strait of Hormuz, he told CNN.
“The war in Iran has compelled certain states that would otherwise have been focused on policing Africa’s Western Indian Ocean to prioritize a potential multinational force to open the Straits of Hormuz,” Lekunze said.
“Redeployment from the region to concentrate forces in the Persian Gulf has created opportunities, activating networks that can… execute specific pirate missions.”
However, the EU’s naval force said the Middle East conflict had not disrupted its anti-piracy operation.
“Atalanta assets have not been modified due to the current international situation, we keep our assets the same as in previous months taking into consideration operational needs,” the agency told CNN.
“Atalanta does not work alone to deter piracy; we coordinate with international partners in the area, including Somali authorities, to repress piracy,” it added.
