The old enemy was back in the water.
In the Gulf of Aden, a failed attempt to seize an Israeli-linked tanker has stirred memories of an era the world hoped was over. Five Somali nationals were captured by a U.S. destroyer after boarding the Central Park, and the incident has set off alarms in Puntland, where maritime police — already contending with al-Shabab and the Islamic State — have doubled their patrols without a single international partner at their side. Piracy, once beaten back through a sustained global effort, may be testing the waters again, and the question of whether the world will notice in time is one that Somalia's coastline cannot answer alone.
- A late-November hijacking attempt on the tanker Central Park has cracked open fears that Somali piracy — dormant for years — may be stirring back to life.
- Puntland's maritime police commander describes a force already stretched across three simultaneous threats, now ordered to double patrols and run them around the clock.
- The absence of any AU, EU, or international naval support leaves a single regional force standing between the Gulf of Aden and a potential return to the chaos of 2011.
- Somalia has issued a formal appeal to international partners, but whether the world reads this incident as a warning or a fluke will determine how quickly — or whether — help arrives.
- The USS Mason's capture of five pirates and the unharmed crew of the Central Park offer a moment of relief, but the underlying conditions that once bred mass piracy remain largely unresolved.
On a Sunday in late November, armed men in speedboats attempted to seize the Liberian-flagged tanker Central Park in the Gulf of Aden. They failed. The USS Mason, an American destroyer, pursued the attackers after they boarded the vessel, ran down their speedboats, and took five Somali nationals into custody. The Central Park's crew was unharmed.
The tanker is managed by Zodiac Maritime and carries ties to Israeli shipping interests — a detail that initially invited comparisons to the Houthi campaign against Israel-linked vessels in the region. But this attack looked different. It looked like the older kind of violence: opportunistic, criminal, and familiar to anyone who remembers when the Gulf of Aden was among the most dangerous stretches of ocean on earth.
At its peak in 2011, Somali piracy produced more than 160 recorded attacks in a single year. Cargo ships rerouted, insurance costs surged, and crews were held for ransom for months at a time. The international response — a sustained naval presence from American, European, and allied forces — gradually dismantled the pirate networks. Attacks fell sharply and kept falling.
What made that decline possible was outside help. And that help, according to Abdullahi Mohamed Ahmed, commander of Puntland's maritime police, is entirely gone. Speaking from Bosaso, he described a force that has doubled its patrols and is now running them around the clock — with no support from the African Union, the European Union, or any international partner. His force is simultaneously monitoring al-Shabab and the Islamic State while watching the water for a threat they thought they had put behind them.
Somalia has now formally appealed to the AU, the EU, and other partners for assistance, hoping to prevent a slide back toward 2011. Whether that appeal finds an audience may depend on how the world chooses to read a single failed hijacking — as an isolated act of desperation, or as an early signal of something quietly rebuilding offshore.
On a Sunday in late November, armed men in speedboats pulled alongside the Liberian-flagged tanker Central Park in the Gulf of Aden and tried to take it. They failed. Within days, the ripple from that single incident had reached the shores of Puntland, Somalia's semiautonomous northeastern region, where maritime police commanders were already stretched thin — and now found themselves doubling their patrols.
The Central Park is managed by Zodiac Maritime and has ties to Israeli shipping interests. U.S. and British military officials confirmed that the attackers boarded the vessel before being pursued by the USS Mason, an American destroyer. The five men were captured after their speedboats were run down and they surrendered. The Pentagon identified them as Somali nationals.
That detail matters. The Gulf of Aden has seen a recent string of attacks on commercial shipping, but most of those have been attributed to Yemeni Houthi rebels, whose campaign against vessels linked to Israel is widely understood as an extension of the broader conflict ignited by the Hamas-Israel war. This incident was different — older, in a sense. It looked less like geopolitical violence and more like the piracy that once made these waters among the most dangerous on earth.
Abdullahi Mohamed Ahmed, the commander of Puntland's maritime police force, spoke to the Associated Press from Bosaso. He said patrols in the region had been doubled and were now running around the clock. The tone of his remarks was not triumphant. It was tired. His force had spent years pushing piracy back, and now, on top of monitoring al-Shabab and the Islamic State — both active threats in the region — they were being asked to watch the water again for the old enemy.
Somalia's piracy problem once commanded the world's attention. At its peak in 2011, the United Nations recorded more than 160 attacks off the Somali coast in a single year. Cargo ships rerouted. Insurance premiums spiked. Crews were held for ransom for months. The international response was substantial: American, European, and allied navies flooded the shipping lanes, and the combination of that presence and improved onshore security gradually choked off the pirate networks. Attacks fell sharply through the mid-2010s and continued declining.
What made that decline possible was, in large part, outside help. And that help, Mohamed made clear, is no longer there. The African Union Mission in Somalia has not contributed to maritime security efforts in Puntland. Neither has the European Union. No international assistance of any kind, he said. His force is operating alone.
The Somali government has now formally appealed for international support, asking the AU, the EU, and other partners to help prevent the kind of resurgence that would drag the region back toward 2011. Whether that appeal gains traction will depend partly on how the international community reads this incident — as an isolated opportunistic attack, or as an early signal of something rebuilding in the shadows.
For now, the USS Mason's crew has five men in custody, the Central Park's crew was reported unharmed, and the waters off the Horn of Africa are being watched more closely than they have been in years. The question is whether the watching will be enough — and whether Puntland's maritime police, running 24-hour rotations without outside support, can hold the line on their own.
Citas Notables
We had initially dealt with the pirates and stopped their activities, but recently on top of al-Shabab and IS we have had to look out for them again.— Abdullahi Mohamed Ahmed, Puntland maritime police commander
Puntland State is all alone in this security effort — no assistance from the African Union, the European Union, or any international body. But we are doing our best.— Abdullahi Mohamed Ahmed, Puntland maritime police commander
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does this one failed hijacking matter so much? Pirates fail all the time.
Because it's the first attempt in years that looks like classic Somali piracy — not Houthi politics, not ideology. That pattern was supposed to be over.
What broke the back of piracy the first time?
Mostly foreign navies. American and allied warships flooded those shipping lanes, and the cost of attempting a hijacking went through the roof. The pirates couldn't sustain the losses.
And now those navies are gone?
From Puntland's perspective, yes. The commander there says they have no support from the African Union, the EU, or anyone else. They're running double patrols on their own.
Is Puntland capable of doing this alone?
They're trying. But they're also simultaneously watching for al-Shabab and the Islamic State. The maritime threat is a third front for a force that was already stretched.
The attackers were caught by the USS Mason. Doesn't that show the U.S. is still engaged?
Reactively, yes. But there's a difference between a destroyer responding to an active hijacking and a sustained naval presence that deters attempts before they happen.
What's the connection to the Houthi attacks?
Mostly geography and timing. The Houthis have been hitting Israeli-linked ships in the same waters as part of the Gaza conflict. But the Pentagon was clear — these attackers were Somali nationals, not Yemeni rebels. Different threat, same sea.
What would a real resurgence look like?
Slowly at first. A few more attempts, some successful. Then ransoms. Then shipping companies start rerouting again, and the insurance math changes. It compounds quickly once the confidence returns to the pirates.
So what's the thing to watch?
Whether Somalia's appeal for international support gets answered — and how fast. The window before a resurgence becomes self-sustaining is probably not very wide.