Pirates have hijacked a Norwegian oil tanker off the coast of Madagascar and are currently taking the ship towards the Somali coast, said maritime officials and the ship's owners on Friday.
Brovigtank, the hijacked ship's owners in Norway, said pirates had hijacked Marshall Island-flagged UBT Ocean in the Indian Ocean when it was carrying oil from the United Arab Emirates to Tanzania.
It is understood that UBT Ocean had a 21-member crew on board when it was hijacked, but it is not clear whether any of the ship's crew were injured in the hijacking. Media reports indicated that none of the crew members were Norwegian nationals.
Friday's hijacking came just hours after French warship captured eleven suspected Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean some 350 nautical miles off the Somali coast and a day after the Spanish trawler Albacan repelled a pirate attack in the Indian Ocean after private security guards on the trawler opened fire on the attacking trawler.
Ahead of the two set backs, the pirates successfully hijacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Monday and took it to the Somali town of Garacad.
The Somali coast, particularity the Gulf of Aden, has been infected with piracy in recent years. More than 160 pirate attacks have been reported in the waters off Somalia last year.
The pirates have managed to hijack at least 34 vessels since the beginning of last year, and are currently holding some 10 ships and 200 hostages. Generally, the crew and the vessels are returned unharmed on receiving the demanded ransom.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's government in 1991. Currently, a weak UN-backed interim government under President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is trying to enforce its authority in the country, most of which is controlled by various Islamist insurgent groups.
Pirate attacks off the Somali coast have continued despite the presence of several warships, deployed by navies of the NATO, the European Union, Russia, China, South Korea and India, in the region to protect cargo and cruise ships against piracy.
The UN Security Council has approved four resolutions since June to promote international efforts in fighting the escalating piracy problem off the coast of Somalia, and has authorized countries engaged in anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast to conduct land and air attacks on Somali pirates after obtaining prior permission from the Somali government.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.