2023 in piracy

2023 in piracy was marked by 120 events of maritime piracy against ships, according to the annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB). 105 vessels were boarded, nine additional attacks attempted, two fired upon, and four vessels hijacked.

A resurgence of piracy off the coast of Somalia continued. The hijacking of the Ruen by Somali pirates was their first successful attack on commercial shipping tankers since 2017.

The Singapore Strait Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel and the Somali Sea were frequent targets of armed robbery, with the Gulf of Guinea reporting three of the four hijackings of the year. In December, Somali pirates waged four attacks on commercial ships.

Hijackings only slightly increased from the previous year, from 115 to 120, yet with greater numbers of crew taken hostage and kidnapped in 2023. The IMB called for heightened caution for crew safety, with kidnappings steeply increased from 2022. In 2023, crew kidnappings increased sharply from 41 to 73.