Somali pirates are profiting from the Iran war, with merchant ships taking long detours around Africa to bypass conflict routes and sail into strike zones.
Escalating conflict in the Middle East has disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for about 20% of the world’s oil, natural gas and critical raw materials. To avoid that, airlines are having to bypass the southern tip of Africa, extending travel times by weeks and pushing maritime traffic directly into the volatile Somali basin.
This reroute would cost an estimated $1 million more per ship due to higher fuel, insurance and operating costs. But it could also allow a resurgence of piracy, shattering the relative calm that has prevailed for years along Somalia’s coast.
Taking advantage of the increased traffic, pirate networks have carried out continuous hijackings in recent weeks, showing signs of a major resurgence.
According to a May 12 advisory from the UK Maritime Trade Operations Office (UKMTO), Somali pirates have now captured at least three vessels: two oil tankers and a general cargo/cement carrier.
UKMTO, which warns shipping companies about maritime security risks, has confirmed that vessels have been seized between April 21 and May 2, including one vessel that was hijacked off the coast of Yemen and diverted to Somalia.
Somalia shares a maritime border with Yemen.
As a result, the agency warned that “the threat level of piracy remains severe” along Somalia’s coast and basin, which gained global notoriety as a major hotspot for maritime hijackings in the late 2000s.
Since the early 1990s, Somalia has been without a functioning central government and piracy has been rampant. The crisis worsened when shipping companies began paying ransoms, which increased from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.
At its peak in 2011, Somali piracy reached a record 237 incidents, costing the global economy $7 billion. More than 3,800 sailors were attacked by assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades that year, and experts fear history is starting to repeat itself.
Only a small number of incidents were recorded off the coast of Somalia in 2025, according to a January report from the International Maritime Bureau. “The lack of a widespread resurgence of piracy in Somalia continues to reflect the strong deterrent effect of the sustained naval presence,” the ministry said at the time.
In an update last month, the European Union’s naval force Operation Atalanta acknowledged a recent increase in piracy. The force said it had successfully “liberated” an Iranian-flagged vessel off the coast of Somalia after forcing the pirates who had hijacked the dhow to abandon it.
The Navy, which has patrolled these waters for nearly two decades, urged passing vessels to “maintain high alert” and report any suspicious activity.
“Opportunism” and the Houthi alliance
Mohamed Dini, a member of Somalia’s parliament, attributed the resurgence of piracy to a combination of external conflict and domestic fragility.
“Recent piracy incidents stem from the opportunism of changes in international shipping routes due to geopolitical crises,” he told CNN.
He added that the current situation in the Middle East “gives them (pirates) an excuse to remobilize,” warning that pirate networks are allied with Yemen’s Houthis, who are targeting ships in the Red Sea as part of supporting Hamas in the conflict with Israel.
In addition to these external influences, Dini stressed that long-term internal instability has left Somalia’s coastline vulnerable, weakening local institutions and reducing the risk of piracy networks.
The people behind the latest maritime attacks have not yet been identified, but previous ship seizures have often involved young Somalis from impoverished areas or armed extremists affiliated with global terror networks.
The European Union Navy told CNN on Friday that it “believes that three piracy groups are operating in northern Somalia” and that these groups “have land and sea elements to provide support.”
Manu Lekunze, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, said the Iran war has created a security vacuum that is spurring a resurgence in piracy. He told CNN that a naval fleet previously focused on suppressing pirate attacks has been reassigned to escort cargo ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The war in Iran has forced some countries that would otherwise have focused on security in Africa’s western Indian Ocean to prioritize opening the Strait of Hormuz to a potential multinational force,” Lekunze said.
“The redeployment from the region to concentrate forces in the Persian Gulf created opportunities and activated networks that could carry out specific piracy missions.”
However, the EU Navy said its anti-piracy operations were not disrupted by the Middle East conflict.
“Due to the current international situation, Atalanta’s assets have not changed. We are keeping the assets the same as last month, taking into account our operational needs,” the agency told CNN.
“Atalanta does not stop piracy alone, but works with international partners in the region, including the Somali authorities, to suppress piracy,” it added.
