Maritime security sources said that a Malta-flagged products tanker, moving off the Somalian coastline, was boarded by pirates on Thursday, 6 November 2025. However, the crew sought refuge in a fortified safe room and maintained control over the vessel.
A burst of armed attacks on vessels in the region marks the first incident involving suspected Somali pirates, which have reemerged after a year of stability in that area. This incident has rekindled concerns about the safety of maritime lanes used to transport critical energy and goods to global markets.
The Greek manager of Latsco Marine Management said that the vessel Hellas Aphrodite was carrying gasoline en route from India to South Africa when the reported security incident occurred on Thursday morning. He added that the entire crew was safe.
A spokesman from the maritime security firm Ambrey said that pirates moving on a skiff had opened fire on the tanker. The attack also consisted of a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the vessel.
The European Union’s naval force said that one of its assets was close to the incident and closing distance, fully prepared to launch appropriate actions in responding effectively to this piracy alert.
Officials from the maritime security company Diaplous and the British maritime risk management group Vanguard said that the crew members took shelter in the ship’s citadel, or fortified safe room. The crew still held control of the vessel.
The vessel’s skipper, a Montenegrin who’s a source of knowledge of the operation, said that 5 of the crew members, including the chief engineer, are Greek, whilst the rest are Filipino nationals.
Latsco Marine Management said in a statement that all 24 crew are safe and accounted for, adding that they were in close contact with them.
Latsco added that it had activated its emergency response team and was coordinating with authorities to ensure the continued safety and welfare of the crew.
The crew reported that they could hear noise on the vessel, as cited by one of the maritime security sources.
A Japanese aircraft that conducted a surveillance flight over the area had reported that it did not detect any movement or signs of activity shared by sources.
Reports of the last such pirate boarding in this region date back nearly 19 months, to May 2024. On that occasion, suspected pirates had boarded a Liberian-flagged vessel, Basilisk, around 380 nautical miles east of Mogadishu. EU naval forces later rescued the entire 17 crew members after rappelling by fast rope on that vessel.
Maritime security sources said that armed assailants attacked a commercial tanker off the coast near the capital, Mogadishu. They were observed to be firing at the vessel after initial attempts to board the vessel.
Maritime security sources added that pirates had also taken over an Iranian fishing vessel earlier that week for use as a mothership to launch attacks.
The last hijacking took place nearly two years ago, in December 2023. That was when the Maltese-flagged Ruen was taken by assailants to the Somali coast before Indian naval forces freed the crew and arrested the attackers.
Somali pirate gangs have been relatively inactive in recent months after previously being a major menace around the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iran-affiliated Houthi militia has posed a greater threat to shipping through the Red Sea, which leads into the Gulf of Aden. The group initially launched an attack on commercial ships in November 2023.
While the Houthis have agreed to a truce targeting U.S.-linked shipping, many shipping organisations remain wary of resuming voyages through those waters.
