NAIROBI/ATHENS (Reuters) -Pirates have boarded a Malta-flagged products tanker off Somalia, maritime security sources said on Thursday, while the vessel’s manager said the ship’s 24 crew members were safe.
Attacks on vessels by armed assailants in recent days have raised concerns for shipping lanes in a region across which critical energy and goods are transported to global markets.
The Hellas Aphodite, which was carrying gasoline, was en route from India to South Africa when a “security incident” took place on Thursday morning, its Greek manager Latsco Marine Management said, without providing details.
Earlier, maritime security firm Ambrey said pirates on a skiff had opened fire on the tanker. Maritime security sources said the pirates had also fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the vessel.
The crew members took shelter in the ship’s “citadel”, or fortified safe room, and remain there, an official from maritime security company Diaplous said. Assistance has been sought from the European Union’s naval forces operating in the area.
The EU’s naval mission ATALANTA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“All 24 crew are safe and accounted for and we remain in close contact with them,” Latsco Marine Management said in a statement, adding that it had activated its emergency response team and was coordinating with authorities to ensure the continued safety and welfare of the crew.
On Monday, in the first suspected Somali piracy incident of its kind since 2024, armed assailants attacked a commercial tanker off the coast near the capital Mogadishu, firing at the vessel after attempting to board it, maritime sources said.
(Reporting by George Obulutsa, Renee Maltezou, Jonathan Saul and Yannis Souliotis; Editing by Alexander Winning and Gareth Jones)
