2023 in piracy was marked by 120 events of maritimepiracy against ships, according to the annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of theICCInternational Maritime Bureau (IMB).[1]105 vessels were boarded, nine additional attacks attempted, two fired upon, and four vessels hijacked.[2]
A resurgence ofpiracy off the coast of Somalia continued.[3][4] The hijacking of theRuen by Somali pirates was their first successful attack on commercial shipping tankers since 2017.[5][6]
TheSingapore Strait[7]Gulf of Aden,Guardafui Channel and theSomali Sea were frequent targets of armed robbery,[8] with theGulf of Guinea reporting three of the four hijackings of the year.[2] In December, Somali pirates waged four attacks on commercial ships.[9]
Hijackings only slightly increased from the previous year, from 115 to 120, yet with greater numbers of crew taken hostage and kidnapped in 2023.[2] The IMB called for heightened caution for crew safety, with kidnappings steeply increased from 2022. In 2023, crew kidnappings increased sharply from 41 to 73.[10]
Pirate attacks of 2023 include events listed below; the list is not exhaustive.
On March 25, theMonjasa ReformerLiberian-flagged tanker[11] was hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea,[12] about 140 nautical miles fromPointe Noire, Congo. The vessel was found five days later.[13] Six kidnapped crew members were recovered May 8.[14]
On April 10, theSuccess 9Singaporean-flagged tanker[15] was boarded in the Gulf of Guinea, about 300 nautical miles (556 km) offCote d’Ivoire, then found six days later offAbidjan.[13]
On May 2, bulk carrier MVGrebe Bulker,[16] under theensign ofMarshall Islands,[17] was boarded in the Port of Owendo,Gabon,[16] resulting in a hostage situation.[18] The ship's captain, second mate and third mate were kidnapped.[19] The hostages were released after 18 days in captivity.[20]
On November 19, 2023,Galaxy Leader, en route fromKörfez,Turkey toPipavav,India, and flagged under the ensign ofBahamas,[21] was hijacked byHouthis in theRed Sea.[22] Armed hijackers boarded the vessel bymilitary helicopter.[23] 25 crew were kidnapped, still remaining in captivity as at April 21, 2024.[21]
On November 22, Somali pirates hijacked the Iranian-flagged[24] fishing dhowAl-Meraj 1, about 62 nautical miles south of theRas Hafun peninsula, near theQandala district ofPuntland, with links between the hijackers and the Qandala district commander and other senior officials implicated.[25] The vessel was boarded by a Somali clan militia, demanding $400,000 ransom.[5]
On November 26,Liberian-flaggedoil tanker MVCentral Park was seized off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden.[26] Multilateralanti-piracy task forceCTF 151 conducted aVBSS operation, rescuing MVCentral Park and capturing the hijackers, suspected Somali pirates. The ship's crew was unharmed.[27]
On December 14, the first successful commercial ship hijacking since 2017 occurred off the coast ofSomalia.[2]Maltese-flagged[28] MVRuen was captured by Somali pirates.[29] 17 crew were kidnapped,[30] MVRuen was rescued March 16, 2024, by theIndian Air Force.[31]
On December 22, 20 heavily armed Somali pirates hijacked aYemeni fishing dhow,Emarat-2.[9][32]
