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The seizure of the Hellas Aphrodite, carrying a load of gasoline from India to South Africa, ended as the ESPS Victoria came alongside the vessel. Special forces from the Spanish frigate boarded the tanker and “released the 24 crew members� who had locked themselves inside the ship's citadel when the attack began Thursday, the private security firm Diaplous Group said.

The pirates fired machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in their assault Thursday. Tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed the tanker over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off the Somali coast Friday.

The Victoria is part of the EU's Operation Atalanta, an anti-piracy coalition.

As the vessel rushed to the scene, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center warned of another incident in the same area on Friday. The UKMTO said a small vessel carrying three people, believed to be part of the same pirate group responsible for the seizure of the Hellas Aphrodite, tried to get close to another ship, but the ship outran the pirate vessel.

The attack on the Hellas Aphrodite comes after another vessel, the Cayman Islands-flagged Stolt Sagaland, was targeted Monday in a suspected pirate attack that saw its armed security force and the attackers shooting at each other, the EU force said. Other incidents also have been linked to the same pirate gang, believed to be operating from an Iranian fishing boat it earlier seized.

Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011, when 237 attacks were reported. Somali piracy in the region in 2011 cost the world’s economy some $7 billion, with $160 million paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.

The threat was diminished by increased international naval patrols, a strengthening central government in Somalia, and other efforts.

However, over the last year, in part due to the insecurity caused by Yemen’s Houthi rebels launching over in the Gaza Strip.

In 2024, there were seven reported incidents off Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau. So far this year, . The Hellas Aphrodite represents the first commercial ship seized by pirates off Somalia since May 2024.

Local fisherman Osman Abdi, who lives in Mogadishu, said pirate attacks fueled fear and caused stigma for his nation.

“Since the pirates have committed hijackings today, it creates a problem for us,� Abdi said. “Their actions could be held against us, as many will consider us fishers to be pirates as well, and that instills fear in us.�

Associated Press writer Omar Faruk in Mogadishu, Somalia, contributed to this report.