Merchant vessels have been warned to exercise extreme caution after a pirate group was spotted off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden.
The incident occurred at 0748 UTC on Saturday between Yemen and Djibouti, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The 63,000-dwt CL Lindy (built 2017), operated by Cosco Wallem Shipmanagement, reported a suspicious approach by 11 skiffs with four to five people on board.
Ladders were sighted on the boats.
Guards on board fired warning flares to deter the attack, while UKMTO sent helicopters to the scene.
Maritime security company LSS-Sapu told TradeWinds piracy has become an increasing problem again in the region this year, after a quieter period in 2019.
The ship was later reported to be safe.
"Vessels transiting the area are advised to exercise extreme caution," the UKMTO watchkeeper said.
The news follows a suspicious approach towards a cargoship in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia on Thursday.
Security consultancy Dryad Global said a merchant ship spotted three skiffs that closed to within a nautical mile.
Dryad said that incident was the second such suspicious approach reported within the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in this year. The first occurred on 11 January.
Thursday's incident took place 94 nautical miles east of another suspicious approach in the westbound transit corridor recorded almost 12 months ago.
In the whole of last year, there were four reported suspicious approaches within the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el Mandeb strait.
The IRTC is a navy-patrolled route through the Gulf of Aden, measuring 490 nautical miles (910 km) long and 20 nautical miles wide.
