Seatrade-Maritime: Cargo ship Lutuf hijacked by armed pirates off Somalia

Published by Seatrade-Maritime

A cargo vessel has been hijacked off Somalia, according to a UKMTO warning published on 17 August.

Maritime security company Vanguard Tech said the ship involved is Cameroon-flagged cargo vessel Lutuf, which the Equasis database has as a 1995-built 1,401 dwt general cargo ship.

Both reports say the ship was boarded by eight armed persons at around 1136 hrs UTC and that the unauthorised persons subsequently took control of the vessel.

“The status of the crew remains unconfirmed, while authorities are investigating,” said Vanguard.

The incident occurred 4 nm south of Mareeyo, Somalia, according to a report from the ship’s company security officer, the UKMTO warning said.

Pirate activity off the Somalia coast has increased in recent months, despite monsoon conditions being generally unfavourable for skiff launches. JMIC’s 16 August advisory had the threat to shipping off the Somali coast as moderate due to persistent opportunistic attacks.

JMIC said there were four merchant vessels held by Somali pirate groups as of 16 August, Palau-flagged product tanker Honour 25 hijacked 21 April 2026, Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged general cargo ship Sward, hijacked 26 April, Togo-flagged product tanker Eureka, hijacked 2 May 2026, and Tanzania-flagged product/chemical tanker Asana, hijacked 17 July 2026.