The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) has warned ships about possible pirates in the Gulf of Aden. UKMTO is a British navy centre that collects reports from merchant ships and shares security warnings.
UKMTO published Advisory 184-26 on 28 October 2026. The incident time was 10:30 UTC on the same day. The information came from military authorities.
What UKMTO reported
UKMTO received reports from several sources about suspicious activity in the Gulf of Aden. There were several sightings of small boats close to merchant ships.
One report described a green and blue boat with nine people on board. The boat carried two ladders and one hook. Pirates use ladders and hooks to climb onto ships.
UKMTO said the activity may point to a Pirate Action Group. This is a group of pirates at sea, often with a small fast boat called a skiff, looking for a ship to attack.
UKMTO did not report an attack or a boarding. It did not name any ship. Authorities are investigating.
UKMTO shared the advisory on X. The post links to the full advisory, which is also on the UKMTO website.
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Not the first warning this month
On 17 October, a skiff with seven armed people came close to the tanker Al Kharsaah in the Gulf of Aden. This is from the weekly report of MSCIO, the security centre of the EU naval force Operation Atalanta. The people in the skiff fired two shots. The armed security team on the ship fired warning shots, and the skiff turned away. All crew were safe.
The same report lists a boarding on 10 September. Armed people boarded the ship Glamor about 38 nautical miles south-west of Balhaf, Yemen. The crew went into the citadel, a locked safe room. The attackers could not get into the citadel or the engine room, and they left. The crew were safe.
Operation Atalanta also says Somali pirates still hold the tanker Asana. It was hijacked about 65 nautical miles south-west of Mukalla, Yemen, on 17 July. One nautical mile is about 1.85 km.
What crews in the area should do
UKMTO asks ships to pass through the area with caution. It asks them to follow BMP MS, the free industry guide Best Management Practices for Maritime Security, and to report anything suspicious. The points below are general advice from these sources, not new rules.
Keep a good lookout, by eye and by radar. Small boats are hard to see on radar.
Watch for small boats with ladders, hooks or many people on board. Report them to UKMTO at once.
UKMTO emergency phone: +44 (0) 2392 222060. Email: watchkeepers@ukmto.org.
When you enter the area, register the ship with both UKMTO and MSCIO, as Operation Atalanta asks.
Know your ship's security plan. Know where the citadel or safe muster point is, and practise going there.
Follow your company's voyage risk assessment and the master's orders.
Cover photo: An old fishing boat (dhow) off Somalia in May 2011. A US Navy boarding team freed its 15 Pakistani crew and found ladders and grappling hooks on board. Illustrative photo. Photo: Chief Intelligence Specialist Deshonia Wesley/U.S. Navy, public domain (cropped).
Sources: UKMTO Advisory 184-26, 28 Oct 2026: suspicious activity in the Gulf of Aden, UKMTO (@UK_MTO) on X, 28 Oct 2026: UKMTO Advisory 184-26, Anadolu Agency, 28 Oct 2026: UK maritime agency warns of possible piracy after suspicious boats spotted near ships in Gulf of Aden, MSCIO Atalanta weekly report, 16-23 Oct 2026, ICS: BMP Maritime Security.
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