In April 2010, Somali pirates seized three Thai fishing boats, carrying 77 crew, 1,380 miles off the Somali coast – about the same distance as New York City to Houston.
"It's the farthest east that any attack and any hijacking has taken place, certainly since Eunavfor [European Union Naval Force] arrived in the area in December 2008," the European Union's Naval Force spokesman John Harbour told the BBC. Commander Harbour told Xinhua that the attack so far out at sea "was a clear indication that the EU, NATO, and CMF [Combined Maritime Forces] were having a marked effect on pirate activity in the area."
According to this factbox from Reuters, all three ships and their crew members are still being held in detention off the coast of Somalia. In July 2010, Somali pirates hijacked a chemical tanker in the southern Red Sea for the first time, according to the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau.
