Return of piracy: Hijacking of Mombasa-bound ship signals troubling concerns

A ship offloads cargo at the Port of Mombasa. Piracy off the coast of Somalia peaked in 2011 with 212 attacks. [File, Standard]

The redeployment of international naval forces to combat the Yemen-backed Houthis and the U.S/Israel war against Iran has created a security vacuum in the Indian Ocean for Somali pirates to hijack ships.

On April 26, a Turkish ship headed to Mombasa was hijacked by pirates, causing fears that the key trade route was sliding into the chaos witnessed in 2011 during the peak of piracy off the coast of Somalia.