Mukhtar Mohamud, a member of a group that previously assisted in organizing ship raids, told the Western media that his pirate friends managed to capture the ship, and they intend to transport it to the eastern coast of Puntland state.
According to the EUNAVFOR, the Spanish frigate Victoria was dispatched to the scene in order to "to gain more awareness & evaluate following actions" in coordination with the Combined Maritime Forces, a 38-nation maritime partnership based in Bahrain.
Earlier on Friday, a British maritime body, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, announced that it had received a report from a ship's security officer who believed that the crew was no longer in control of a vessel that was now sailing toward Somalia. However, all members of the ship were reported to be safe.
The Gulf of Aden, the Guardafui Channel, the Somali Sea, Somali territorial seas, and other nearby locations are all suffering from pirate activity off the coast of Somalia. It began as a threat to international fishing vessels in the early 2000s and quickly escalated and spread to international shipping due to political crisis in the country.
Despite a significant drop in the number of the attacks, long-term solutions are needed to address the root of the problem: political instability and the ongoing war in Somalia, as stated by the UN.