Somali Pirates Release the Sward and Its 17 Crew After a Ransom Payment
Four commercial vessels are still held, and the IMO has logged the most regional attacks since 2013
The general cargo ship Sward has been released near Garacad in Somalia's Puntland region after almost five months in pirate hands, with its 17-member crew of 15 Syrian nationals and two Indians still on board. Security sources in Puntland said a ransom had been paid but did not give a figure.
The ship was hijacked off the Somali coast on 26 April. The crew was still aboard when the pirates left the vessel and went ashore near Garacad, where several vehicles were waiting for them. One Puntland security source placed those vehicles at the coast before the pirates got there, which would point to contact with people on land while the ship was still at sea.
Sward was not only a prize. The pirates used it as a mother ship to seize other vessels, among them two Iranian fishing boats and the Cameroon-flagged cargo ship Lutuf. Security sources in Puntland put the ransom paid for the release of Lutuf in late August at $2.5m, and the sum paid for the two fishing boats at $40,000. Somalia's federal government gave a different account of that release, saying the ship was freed after "sustained military pressure" from the Turkish navy and Somali armed forces, with four pirate boats destroyed and 14 pirates killed.
Four commercial vessels remain in pirate hands off Somalia: the tankers Honour 25, Eureka, Asana and Seamull. Seamull was sanctioned by the United States in December last year, identified as part of Iran's shadow fleet and accused of exporting Iranian oil using deceptive shipping practices.
Attacks in the region have climbed back to a level not seen in more than a decade. The International Maritime Organisation has recorded at least 15 attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden this year, the highest count since 2013.
The pattern has continued through September. On 10 September an unauthorised skiff approached the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged bulk carrier Glamor about 98 nautical miles southwest of Mukalla. The crew followed emergency procedures and retreated to the citadel; the attackers boarded but did not take control of the ship, and later left. The vessel resumed its passage with all crew safe. That boarding was the 25th recorded hijacking or boarding worldwide since the start of 2026, and it happened in waters off a part of Yemen that is not under Houthi control.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 15 September 2026.
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