Turjumaad ayaa la diyaarinayaa

Somalia’s coast. The recent resurgence of piracy has led the Joint Maritime Information Center to raise its threat level for piracy off the Somali Coast and in the Somali Basin to “severe.”

Somali piracy peaked in 2011–2012, costing the global economy almost an additional $7 billion in 2011 alone, according to one estimate. Unlike the previous period, where piracy was a direct “symptom of the breakdown of Somalia’s political system,” recent renewed attacks are driven by opportunism linked to geopolitical shifts that have been building over the past few months.

The European-led naval mission, EU NAVFOR (Operation Atalanta), continues to monitor and patrol the waters in coordination with bilateral partners.

Rather than a significant reduction in patrolling, monitoring, or deterrence, the increase is driven by shifting dynamics resulting from the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran in late February, the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the continued coordination between the al Shabaab–Houthi alliance that can capitalize on the region’s piracy dynamics. Critically, these factors have increased shipping traffic around Somalia.