On March 12th, 2024, pirates near the Somali coast captured a Bangladesh cargo ship on its way from Mozambique to the UAE.
Confirming the incident, the ship owners, Kabir Steel Re-rolling Mills, said the cargo in the ship was coal, and it weighed 55,000 tons.
MV Abdallah Released by Pirates
Today, April 14th 2024, the seized ship has apparently been released together with its entire 23-member crew held hostage since. The news about release of the ship, named MV Abdallah, came from the pirates themselves.
According to the Somali pirates, through their spokesman, Abdirashid Yusuf, they received a ransom of $5 million dollars at the end of this week. Yusuf gave Reuters details of the ransom delivery, indicating they only released the ship after confirming the currency was genuine.
Pirates Seem to Be Newly Emboldened
Almost two decades ago, pirates along the Somali coast had caused havoc to sea vessels sailing within the Indian Ocean.
In 2008, they hijacked a Filipino ship that belonged to Chart World Shipping Corporation. In 2009, they attacked a US ship, Maersk Alabama, and took the captain hostage. That ship was headed for Kenya from Oman.
Such attacks in the waters off the Somali coast continued up to 2018. When pirate activity proved to be a real threat to sea travel, different countries established strong collaboration to fight the menace.
In 2017, when the notorious pirates hijacked a vessel named Tuvalu Japan as it approached Aden from Port Kelang, the situation was quickly handled. India’s and China’s navy ships that were patrolling the nearby waters moved in fast and regained control from the pirates.
In 2018, the pirates attempted an attack by shooting at a Singaporean ship, MT Leopard Sun, but the crew fired back, giving the ship a chance to escape.
Countries Distracted by the Gaza and Ukraine Conflicts
It appears the pirates have noticed that world attention is on the fight in Gaza and Ukraine. By hijacking MV Abdallah, the pirates could be testing the waters to see if anyone has been left guarding the coastline.
Of late, the US, Europe, and virtually everyone across the globe, have had their attention on the fighting going on in Gaza. This is especially so because of the humanitarian situation continuing to escalate.
Also, for over the past two years, a lot of attention has been on the continuing fight between Russian and Ukrainian forces, as Ukraine tries to safeguard its territory.
With the attack on MV Abdallah, and the boldness of the pirates in bragging about the ransom paid, things are likely to change. Countries like China, India, the US, Kenya, and others, are bound to refocus their attention to the waters of the Indian Ocean.
Very likely, they are going to resume the naval and maritime collaboration they had around 15 years ago, which scared away the pirates.