Puntland forces free the tanker Sibu 1 from Somali pirates after five weeks

The authorities in Somalia's Puntland region have freed the product tanker Sibu 1 from pirates. The Puntland Navy and the Puntland Maritime Police Force said the ship was released in a planned 48-hour operation, that the pirates were arrested and that follow-up work was continuing. Local accounts, which the authorities have not confirmed, describe a violent clash off the coast of Mudug in which three people died and several were injured, without saying whether the dead were pirates or crew.

Sibu 1 was boarded on 20 August about 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla in Yemen while carrying oil products. UKMTO was told that six people had boarded and steered the ship towards Somalia; as she was taken, the crew transmitted a final AIS message reading "PRIRATE ONBOARD HEL". She had a crew of 20, 16 Indian nationals and four Arab crew members.

The 32,238 dwt tanker, built in 2001, also traded as Seamul. The United States sanctioned her in December 2025 in an action against an Egyptian businessman whose companies OFAC said were tied to shadow fleet ships carrying Iranian oil products. She was then moved to management in the UAE, began using the name Sibu 1 and claimed Eritrean registry, which is considered false.

She is the third ship recovered from the six that Somali pirates seized between April and August. The small cargo ship Sward, registered in St Kitts and Nevis, was released on 11 September after 138 days, reportedly after an undisclosed ransom was paid; she had been boarded on 26 April with 17 crew and a fertiliser cargo for Mombasa. At the end of August Turkish commandos working with Somali forces freed the Cameroon-flagged Lufut, which was carrying Turkish military equipment, in an operation in which four to six pirates were killed.

The Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean is still tracking three hijacked ships off Somalia, Honour 25, Eureka and Asana, whose crews remain in the pirates' hands despite reports of diplomatic contacts. The last attempted attack in the region came on 10 September, when pirates boarded Glamor south-west of Yemen; the crew secured themselves and the boarders left after a show of force by EU naval units.

This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 28 September 2026.