EU NAVFOR Atalanta, the European Union’s naval security mission, reported that a show of force by warships scared off a pirate action group that had boarded the Greek-owned bulker Glamor off the coast of Yemen on September 10. The 24,000-dwt vessel, registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, was targeted approximately 98 nautical miles southwest of Al Mukalla before the pirates fled. The Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean separately tracked the vessel’s boarding roughly 38 nautical miles southwest of Balhaf, Yemen, as it appeared to be operating in and out of Djibouti. Atalanta and regional authorities describe the current surge in incidents as the most active period of pirate activity off the Horn of Africa since 2013.
Separately, the cargo ship Lutuf was freed after being held by pirates, though accounts of its release diverge sharply. Somalia’s federal government and the Turkish Navy said commandos freed the Cameroon-flagged vessel by force, killing 14 pirates and destroying four small boats during the operation, while the ship had been carrying Turkish military equipment bound for a base in Somalia. Authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region dispute that account, saying instead that a ransom of $2.5 million was paid to secure the ship’s release. Four other vessels remain under pirate control, including the tankers Honour 25, hijacked on April 21, and Eureka, seized on May 2, with two of the four having been held as long as the recently released MV Sward.
Source: The Maritime Executive
