Somali Pirate and Houthi Alliance Targets $1 Trillion Oil Trade Route with Revived Hijack Tactic

A surge in Somali piracy is fueling fears of a Red Sea security vacuum across the region, with analysts warning that the revived maritime crime playbook is now linked to the Iran-backed Houthis. The warning followed a May 2 report from Yemen’s coast guard that armed men had hijacked an oil tanker off Shabwa and steered it toward the Gulf of Aden; the vessel has since been located, with recovery efforts underway. Ido Shalev, chief operating officer at RTCOM Defense and a former Israeli naval officer, described a fundamental shift in the regional maritime balance and a new phase of instability at sea.

Shalev explained that Somali and Houthi-linked groups are coordinating attacks using skiffs and new technology in a way not seen in roughly a decade, while Saudi crude rerouted from the Strait of Hormuz has created a target-rich environment. Once a vessel is hijacked, pirates take it to a secure anchorage such as Qandala or Garacad and demand a ransom for the entire package: ship, oil cargo worth tens of millions of dollars, and crew. At least three vessels were hijacked within days, beginning with a Somali-flagged fishing boat on April 21, followed by the Palau-flagged tanker Honour 25 and, by April 26, a general cargo ship redirected to Garacad.

With international navies preoccupied with missile threats from the Houthis, a security gap has opened that allows pirates to travel vast distances in skiffs to board vulnerable commercial vessels. The Red Sea carries 12 to 15 percent of global trade and roughly 30 percent of container traffic, moving more than $1 trillion in goods annually, including oil and liquefied natural gas. Shalev warned that the current crisis cannot be solved by patrols alone and that threats must be detected before they ever reach a ship.

(FOX/VFI News)

“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.” – Psalm 107:23-24