Pirates

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said last week that a vessel boarded by unauthorized personnel in the Gulf of Aden had been maneuvered into Somali waters, classifying it as a hijack.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, is already considered a significant vulnerability due to the presence of Yemen's Houthi terrorists.

Some may see it as creating a new era of international competition in the Horn of Africa - but the real issue is it may appear more of a strategic chessboard than it is.

Iran seized an Eswatini-flagged ship carrying 350,000 liters of smuggled fuel off Bushehr, detaining its 13 crew amid ongoing efforts to curb fuel smuggling.

Amid a recent spate of armed attacks on vessels in the region, a liquefied natural gas tanker outran pirates seeking to board the vessel.

If confirmed, this would be the first Somali piracy attack against a commercial ship in over a year.

East Carolina University researchers say uniquely preserved timber from spanish colonial trees and an eighteenth century cannon recovered nearby support identification as La Fortuna.

The twenty year investigation uncovered 3,300 artifacts, from Chinese porcelain to a gem inlaid gold cross, linking the wreck to the 1721 raid by pirate captain La Buse and John Taylor.

There was no evidence of human settlements in Columbretes Islands until the 19th century.

While researching piracy in Somalia, American journalist Michael Scott Moore never imagined he'd become the story.