Somali pirates seize Iranian fishing vessel Azini

Somali pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini off northeastern Somalia on Thursday, taking 21 Iranian crew and two Somali guards, and the Maritime Security Center Indian Ocean warns the ship could be used as a mother ship against commercial vessels.

Why it matters: The seizure is the latest in a resurgence of Somali piracy, with six commercial vessels hijacked between April and August, and it adds a second, opportunistic threat to shipping already rerouted and repriced by the Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb disruptions.

Data as of Associated Press report of November 1, 2026, read in full in this run; the hijacking details are from a Puntland Maritime Police Force officer speaking to AP on Sunday, and the mother ship warning and crew safety status are from the Maritime Security Center Indian Ocean alerts of Saturday and Sunday. The seizure itself took place on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Developing item.

Somali pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini between the coastal towns of Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia on Thursday, a Puntland Maritime Police Force officer told the Associated Press on Sunday. Twelve pirates took the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali security guards, and the Maritime Security Center Indian Ocean said the crew’s safety was unknown and warned in an updated alert that the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could be used as a mother ship to support attacks on commercial vessels, with the European Union’s naval Operation Atalanta investigating.

The seizure extends a resurgence across the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean: by August, pirates had hijacked six commercial vessels since April, and in September Puntland authorities said pirates killed five crew members of the tanker MT Honour 25 before security forces recovered that vessel.

Somali pirates seize Iranian fishing vessel Azini

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