Somali pirates are back in business. Piracy in the region around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden had faded in recent years after peaking around 2010, thanks to prevention and enforcement from. Piracy incidents in Somali waters and the Gulf of Aden have risen sharply since the spring, after several years in which the crime had all but disappeared from the region. Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the beginning of the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s. [1] This is a List of Somali pirates, sea robbers, corsairs, privateers, Red Sea and ocean pirates and others involved in piracy off the coast of Somalia. This list includes both captains and prominent crew members. Pirates off the coast of Somalia have successfully hijacked a commercial vessel for the first time in 18 months, raising fears of a resurgence in armed attacks. Somali pirates have sustained an elevated rate of hijackings since April 2026 with possible support from the Houthis and al Shabaab, further increasing insecurity in key Red Sea shipping lanes. Somali pirates are back on the attack, with piracy around the Horn of Africa rising sharply in recent months and adding to concerns for shipping vessels, government forces and private security. Somali pirates are profiting from the war in Iran as commercial ships, bypassing conflict routes through lengthy detours around Africa, sail into their strike zone. Over a decade after fading from public consciousness, Somali piracy is making a comeback. Once the scourge of the maritime community, Somali mariners are responsible for at least 17 piracy-related incidents in either Somali waters or the Gulf of Aden between January-May of this year. Overstretched naval deployments and a focus on Red Sea security have left parts of the Western Indian Ocean vulnerable. Somali pirate activity in early November 2025 represents the most serious cluster of incidents in the Western Indian Ocean since the mid-2024 downturn.