Somali Pirates and Houthi Rebels Form Alliance Targeting $1 Trillion Oil Trade Route

A surge in Somali piracy is raising alarm across the Red Sea region as security analysts identify a troubling collaboration between traditional pirates and Iran-backed Houthis, creating what experts call a “security vacuum” in one of the world’s most critical maritime corridors.

The latest incident occurred on May 2, when Yemen’s coast guard reported armed men hijacking an oil tanker off Shabwa, steering it toward the Gulf of Aden. According to Reuters, the vessel has since been located and recovery efforts are underway.

“There is a fundamental shift in the maritime center of gravity amid a new phase of maritime instability in the region,” said Ido Shalev, chief operating officer at RTCOM Defense and former Israeli naval officer, in an interview. “Somali and Houthi-linked groups are teaming up — using skiffs and new tech to strike ships with coordination not seen in a decade.”

This emerging partnership appears to be driven by mutual benefit. “There is an opportunistic alignment, with the Houthis providing geopolitical cover and advanced GPS and surveillance, and Somali groups providing the boots on the ground or skiffs on the water,” Shalev explained. “This is a transactional collaboration, and in the exact area where the Houthis are active and would like to cause damage and support their IRGC sponsor.”

The resurgence of what Shalev calls the “Somali model” involves pirates hijacking entire ships and cargo, taking them to secure anchorages such as Qandala or Garacad, then demanding ransoms for the vessel, crew, and cargo combined. With oil prices reaching near $115 per barrel this quarter, the potential payoff for successful hijackings has never been higher.

The risk level in Somali waters was recently upgraded to “substantial” following a wave of attacks that began April 21. Within days, at least three vessels were hijacked: a Somali-flagged fishing boat, the Palau-flagged tanker Honour 25, and a general cargo ship redirected to Garacad.

Compounding these concerns is a significant shift in global energy transportation routes. Due to instability around the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has diverted millions of barrels of crude oil daily through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

“This creates a target-rich environment in a sector that was previously a backbound route,” Shalev noted. The diversions have concentrated high-value targets in waters where pirates have historically operated.

Maritime security experts point to a critical factor enabling this resurgence: international naval forces are preoccupied with countering missile threats from Houthi rebels, creating openings for pirate operations. “Because international naval forces are preoccupied with missile threats, a ‘security vacuum’ has now opened in the region, so pirates can travel vast distances in skiffs to board vulnerable commercial vessels,” Shalev said.

The timing is particularly concerning as the resurgence “correlates perfectly with the Houthi crisis in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” according to Shalev. This suggests a calculated exploitation of divided international maritime security resources.

The implications for global trade are significant. The Red Sea carries between 12% and 15% of global trade and approximately 30% of container traffic, representing over $1 trillion in annual goods movement, including critical oil and LNG shipments.

Maritime security experts emphasize that conventional patrols alone are insufficient to address this evolving threat. “The current crisis proves that you cannot ‘patrol’ your way out of this; you have to see the threat before it ever reaches the ship,” Shalev warned, highlighting the need for advanced surveillance systems similar to Nigeria’s “Falcon Eye” project, which he helped develop and which successfully reduced piracy in Nigerian waters to virtually zero.

As regional tensions continue and naval forces remain stretched between multiple threats, shipping companies are increasingly concerned about the expanded risk profile for vessels traversing these critical waterways. The collaboration between traditional pirates and politically-motivated actors represents a new chapter in maritime security challenges, combining profit motives with strategic regional objectives in ways that may prove difficult to counter with conventional approaches.