Somali Piracy Surges Amid Hormuz Blockade

AI Summary

Somali piracy has surged off the eastern African coast due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, forcing commercial ships to reroute. Several oil tankers were hijacked between April and July 2026, exploiting increased maritime traffic amid the Iran war.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced hundreds of commercial ships onto longer routes around Africa, and Somali pirates are moving quickly to exploit the sudden increase in traffic off the continent’s eastern coast. Oil tankers MT Honour 25, MT Eureka and MT Asana were hijacked in the Gulf of Aden and off Puntland between April and July 2026, the largest attacks by Somali pirates in years. The Iran war has now delivered these groups more targets, spread across thousands of miles of ocean, while diverting naval resources…