The Return of Somali Piracy: A Warning for Mauritius

Geopolitics & Regional Affairs

By Vijay Makhan

The renewed hijackings off Somalia are not yet a return to the piracy crisis of the past. But they offer a warning to every island state whose prosperity depends on secure sea lanes.

For a time, Somali piracy seemed to belong to another chapter of Indian Ocean history. Naval patrols, regional cooperation, better protection aboard ships and improved operating practices made hijackings far more difficult. Attacks fell sharply. The networks ashore, however, were never wholly dismantled.

In recent months, a succession of hijackings off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden has brought the threat back into view. The International Maritime Bureau reported that global piracy incidents in the first half of 2026 were at their lowest level since 1992. But then, Somali pirates were responsible for 94 per cent of crew members taken hostage during that period. This is not a return to the scale of 2008–2011. It is a stark warning that a suppressed threat can resurge when conditions at sea and on land again favour it.

The question for Mauritius is not whether pirates are about to appear off our shores. It is what a renewed threat along the Horn of Africa could mean for a state whose security and prosperity are bound to the ocean.

Mauritius is separated from the Horn by considerable distance, but not from its consequences. Our food, fuel, manufactured goods and other essentials depend on maritime transport. A prolonged rise in insecurity around the Gulf of Aden and the approaches to the Red Sea could add to insurance premiums, freight charges and delivery uncertainty. Shipping companies may alter routes or schedules; the additional cost is ultimately borne by importers, businesses and households.

These pressures would not arise from piracy alone; conflict-related disruptions and the risk of attacks by state and non-state actors are already unsettling shipping. Somali piracy adds another layer of uncertainty. Even a limited number of hijackings can influence commercial decisions far beyond the waters where attacks occur.

For Mauritius, this is a geoeconomic concern. A small island economy has little room to absorb repeated external cost shocks. Higher freight and fuel costs can feed into prices, complicate business planning and add pressure to the cost of living. The issue is not remote simply because attacks take place far from our exclusive economic zone. In an ocean economy, distance does not insulate us from disruption; it determines how disruption reaches us.

A security vacuum is never empty

The return of piracy also carries a geopolitical warning. The Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean form a connected strategic space. Naval forces must respond to simultaneous pressures, including the Iran war and Houthi attacks on shipping. Such demands can stretch patrols and complicate coordination. They do not prove that the Houthis direct or finance Somali pirate groups; claims of such links remain unconfirmed. They do underline how criminal activity can exploit a region under strategic pressure.

Nor can the problem be dealt with at sea alone. Piracy flourished in an environment of weak coastal governance, limited economic opportunity and criminal networks able to move between shore and sea. Those underlying conditions have persisted. Somalia’s federal authorities and Puntland (a regional semi-autonomous state within Somalia) also face serious political distrust. Cooperation is bare. This has a direct incidence on intelligence-sharing.   Enforcement therefore becomes harder. Accusations between the parties make it difficult to agree on a common response.

The earlier international effort offers a lesson, but not a formula that can simply be repeated. UN Security Council Resolution 1816, adopted unanimously in June 2008 with Somalia’s consent, authorised states cooperating with Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government to enter Somali territorial waters for a period of six months and use all necessary means, consistent with international law, to repress piracy.

Further Security Council resolutions urged active naval participation and extended the framework, helping make a concerted international response possible. Operation Atalanta remains active. The decline in piracy came through naval presence, action by Somali and regional partners, shipboard precautions and pressure on ransom networks. A renewed response must again join maritime deterrence to cooperation ashore. Patrols can disrupt attacks; they cannot restore governance or provide livelihoods on their own.

Mauritius must read the sea as a whole

For Mauritius, the first requirement is clear situational awareness — assess developments along main shipping routes, their effect on freight and insurance, and any implications for port operations and supply resilience. Maritime security information-sharing with regional and international partners should remain a priority. Our engagement through Indian Ocean and African institutions can help sustain attention to western Indian Ocean security, even when larger powers’ focus shifts elsewhere.

This is not a call for alarm or for Mauritius to assume responsibilities beyond its means. It is a call to treat maritime security as part of economic security and foreign policy. A small island state is vulnerable not only because of its size, but because it depends on systems it cannot control alone. Our answer must be steady diplomacy, cooperation with partners and preparedness at home.

Piracy off Somalia remains far below the levels that once paralysed shipping and held hundreds of seafarers hostage. That perspective matters. So does the warning: when international attention is divided and coastal insecurity persists, criminal networks test deterrence again.

For Mauritius, the lesson is plain. In my latest book, Geopolitics of the Indian Ocean, I argue that we must think like an ocean state, not merely as an island economy. That is a strategic imperative. It calls on us to look beyond our immediate shores, anticipate threats to the sea-lanes on which our people and prosperity depend, and help shape a collective response. We should take the initiative now—through regional cooperation, information-sharing and sustained diplomacy—to contain this renewed piracy before it gathers momentum and again threatens shipping and seafarers on a much wider scale. A distant crisis can become a local cost; foresight and timely action can help prevent it.

Don’t we say: forewarned is forearmed?

14 October 2026

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 16 October 2026