On the night of Sep 3, 2025, an operation was launched by the Portuguese Navy, after the crew of the 'Odysseus' requested assistance, stating there were armed perpetrators aboard. At least two sailors were locked in the engine room by the raiders. . The ship was underway from Virgo to Malga at the time of the boarding. The alert requesting assistance went out at around 11 p.m. LT, while the vessel was off the Algarve coast near the city of Lagos. The container ship diverted to a position approximately six nautical miles off the coast, and on Sep 4 at around 1 a.m. a team from the Navy and National Maritime Authority boarded the vessel. Both patrol boats and a helicopter were involved in the operation. The vessel was diverted to the port of Sines for further inspections, where it berthed on Sep 5 at around 1 a.m. The two crew members were released from the engine room, and an initial search did not locate the perpetrators. There was speculation that it was a drug cartel that boarded the ship. There were two individuals armed and wearing hoods spotted on the ship. They were thought to have fled before the authorities arrived to assist the vessel.
News
ENDO PONENTE
A pirate incident has been reported in the Gulf of Guinea, involving the ' Endo Ponente',, en route from Kalamo, which was sailing off the coast of Togo. The vessel was attacked about 56 nautical miles south of Lomé on Aug 28, 2025. The tanker had departed its anchorage near Lomé on the morning and proceeded south at a steady speed before making a sharp turn in the evening and slowing almost to a stop. Its last AIS transmission was received shortly afterwards. The NIMASA C4i Centre in Lagos received an alert of the attempted attack at about 8:53 p.m. from the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade (MDAT) Gulf of Guinea Watchkeepers, reporting that there were suspected pirates attempting to board the vessel near pos. 05°10' N, 001°23' E, close to Lome Port. The crew of the chemical tanker managed to take shelter in the citadel. Subsequent intelligence tracking placed the ship at 04°19'16" N, 01°35'59" E, within Ghana’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The Special Mission Vessel 'DB Lagos', operated by the Nigerian Navy under the Deep Blue Project, was deployed to intercept and secure the distressed tanker 60 nautical miles from the coast. When the pirates spotted the warship, they fled. The Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) team of the Togo Navy searched the tanker without finding any pirates left behind, and then freed the crew from the citadel. It was not clear whether the pirates managed to board the tanker or whether they were just in the process of doing so. The Togo Navy promptly reported the situation to the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre , MMCC, Zone E, Under the Yaoundé Architecture for maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, which covers Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Niger Republic. The MMCC Zone F, headquartered in Accra, Ghana, provided constant monitoring and information-sharing with all relevant stakeholders throughout the incident.
GEORGITSI
The 'Georgitis', en route from Paranagua to Zhoushan, while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Singapore Strait, was boarded by three unarmed perpetrators on Aug 28, 2025 at 10.42 p.m., about 4,2 nautical miles off Pulau Cula, in pos. 1° 3.6' N 103° 38.53' E. The crew members were not injured, and nothing was reported stolen from the ship.
HK TUG 8
The 'HK Tug 8', while towing the barge 'LKH 2882' in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Singapore Strait . approximately three nautical miles off Pulau Nongsa in pos. 01°14.20' N, 104°02.32' E, was boarded by 10 unarmed perpetratorson Aug 3, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. The intruders stole scrap metals from the barge.
MISTRAL VOYAGER
Houthi rebels claimed to have attacked the 'Scarlet Ray', an Israeli-owned ship, near the city of Yanbu on Aug 31, 2025. The tanker had sailed from Yanbu Industrial City on Aug 26, 2025. The missile attack was confirmed, but the tanker was not hit. An explosion had occurred near the vessel. According to the British monitoring center UKMTO, the crew was unharmed and the ship was able to continue its voyage. The relevant authorities were investigating the incident, and UKMTO has issued advisories for vessels in the area to exercise caution.

