Nearly four nautical miles off the coast of the Eyl district in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region, an act of maritime piracy has reignited longstanding concerns over organized hijacking in one of the world’s most dangerous waterways. A Somali government official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on discussing sensitive security information, confirmed to the Associated Press that the Cameroon-flagged cargo vessel M/V LUTUF was seized by pirates this Monday. The hijacked vessel, which was carrying a cargo of Turkish military hardware and specialized communications technology, was subsequently redirected toward the Nugaal coast of the Puntland region.
Details of the hijacking reveal that the 10-person crew on board the M/V LUTUF comes from four different nations: six crew members hold Indian citizenship, one is Turkish, one is Georgian, and two Serbian nationals are employed as armed security guards on the vessel. The ship is owned by Polar Movement Shipping, and its cargo was officially documented as bound for a Turkish military training installation in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. Along with the shipment of weapons, the vessel was also carrying communications infrastructure and advanced satellite equipment for the facility, the official confirmed. As of Thursday, Turkish government officials had not released any public statement confirming or commenting on the hijacking incident.
According to the official’s account, eight pirates carried out the seizure, and investigators believe they belong to the same criminal network that hijacked another commercial vessel, the M/V Sward, back in late April. After taking control of the M/V LUTUF, the pirates sailed the ship to a holding position off the coast near Garmaal, located in Puntland’s Dangoroyo district. In the hours after the hijacking, two vessels owned by Turkish interests arrived in the area to monitor the situation, while Turkish military helicopters and unmanned drones conducted ongoing surveillance of the hijacked ship and surrounding waters.
On Tuesday, a small civilian boat carrying two people approached the anchored M/V LUTUF to deliver khat, a mild stimulant widely chewed for recreational and cultural purposes across Somalia, the official said. Once that small boat returned to the Somali shore, an airstrike targeted the area, leaving four people dead and two others with severe injuries. To date, key details about the strike remain unconfirmed by independent observers: it is still unclear which military force carried out the attack, and it has not been independently verified whether the people killed and injured were the pirates responsible for the hijacking. The current status of the M/V LUTUF, its entire crew, and its sensitive military cargo also remains unconfirmed publicly, as independent journalists have not been able to access the site to verify all details of the official’s account. Suzan Fraser contributed additional reporting from Ankara, Turkey.