2024 in piracy

2024 in piracy included 33 reports of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships to the International Maritime Bureau during the first quarter of the year. Incidents included 24 vessels boarded, six of which experienced attempted attacks; two hijacked; and one fired upon. Crew continued to suffer violence, with 35 crew taken hostage, nine kidnapped, and one threatened during three first three months of the year.

Piracy surged in the Gulf of Aden at the start of the year. Increased incidents of piracy and hijacking in the Somali basin continued to be reported. When Houthis began attacking international shipping in the Red Sea, the year before, Somali pirates seized the opportunity to increase their attacks on ships off the Horn of Africa.

Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea extended beyond the Israel-Hamas war to, as stated by a Houthi spokesman in January 2024, response to "American-British aggression against our country". US Central Command then stated that the Houthi attacks "have nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza" and that Houthis had "fired indiscriminately into the Red Sea" to target vessels, affecting more than 40 nations.

In March, shipping routes reported as the most dangerous in the world due to piracy (aside from hijackings and other incidents in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden related to the Israel-Hamas war) were identified as: the Singapore Strait, Gulf of Guinea and the Strait of Malacca.

INS Sumitra
On January 29, the INS Sumitra rescued a hijacked fishing boat from Somalia pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

MV Abdullah
On March 12, armed pirates in small boats attacked Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier MV Abdullah. All 23 crew members aboard were taken hostage. Somali pirates released the vessel and crew on April 14, following payment of $5 million (€4.7 million) ransom.

MV Ruen
On March 16, MV Ruen, following its hijacking in the Gulf of Guinea in December 2023, was rescued by the Indian Air Force, which airdropped two rigid inflatable combat boats carrying eight Indian Navy MARCOS commandos, rescuing 17 sailors and disarming 35 pirates on board. Later that month, India escorted the captured Somali pirates to stand trial for the hijacking the vessel and kidnapping of its crew in Mumbai.

Magalie
On April 4, the Panama-flagged Magalie was attacked in the Caribbean by two Haitian gangs: 5 Seconds and Taliban. (Unrelated to the Afghan Taliban.) The Magalie was captured by the armed gangs in the Varreux fuel terminal at Port-Au-Prince. The crew was taken hostage and a sixth of the cargo, consisting entirely of rice (the primary staple food of Haiti), was stolen. On April 7, the Haitian National Police stormed the seized freighter, ensuing in a five-hour gun battle with the gangs, in which two police officers were injured and several of the two gang's members turned pirate were killed. The ship, owned by U.S. shipping company Claude and Magalie, was recovered by the Haitian police force. The fate of the crew and any other seafarers aboard the Magalie, who were all taken hostage, remained unknown.

Al-Kambar 786
On March 28, Al-Kambar 786, was boarded by nine armed pirates southwest of the Yemeni island of Socotra. INS Sumedha and INS Trishul intercepted the vessel on March 29. The Indian Navy engaged in "over 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures" that led to the pirates' surrender. The crew was unharmed. The pirates were taken to India to face prosecution under its Maritime Anti-Piracy Act 2022.