Hijacked Malta-flagged ship Ruen spotted near Somalia, security firm says

The Maltese-flagged bulk cargo ship Ruen, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in December, was reported sailing off the coast of Somalia and may be used to conduct attacks on merchant vessels, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Thursday. The ship - which has a black hull, red deck and a yellow smokestack with a red horizontal stripe - was seen sailing eastward 160 nautical miles (296 km) southeast of Eyl, Somalia, according to Ambrey.

The Maltese-flagged bulk cargo ship Ruen, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in December, was reported sailing off the coast of Somalia and may be used to conduct attacks on merchant vessels, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Thursday.

The ship - which has a black hull, red deck and a yellow smokestack with a red horizontal stripe - was seen sailing eastward 160 nautical miles (296 km) southeast of Eyl, Somalia, according to Ambrey. The firm advised other vessels in the area to increase vigilance. The capture of the Ruen was the first successful hijacking involving Somali pirates since 2017, when a crackdown by international navies stopped a rash of seizures in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Ransom for the Ruen's kidnapped crew has not been paid, Ambrey said. Media reports say the pirates are holding 17 crew after releasing one for medical reasons. The report comes after 20 people boarded and took control of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia on Tuesday. That followed a resurgence of attacks by Somali pirates in recent months. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks.

The Ruen is managed by Navigation Maritime Bulgare, a Bulgaria-based company, according to data on public shipping database Equasis.

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