Image for representation purposes only Somali pirates have abandoned a hijacked Emirati dhow in the Arabian Sea after failing to use the vessel to launch attacks on other ships, security officials in Somalia’s Puntland region told AFP. The lemon-laden dhow, identified as Fahad-4, was seized in late April by an 11-member pirate group about 10 nautical miles off the coastal town of Dhinowda in northeastern Somalia. According to Puntland security officials, the pirates departed from an area near the port of Garacad, around 600km north of Mogadishu, before hijacking the vessel. Officials said the pirates later used the dhow as a mothership while moving through Somali waters in an attempt to target other vessels operating in the region. However, the group abandoned the ship on May 4 after failing to carry out further attacks. Puntland officials told AFP the pirates faced supply shortages and were unable to approach commercial vessels because ships sailing through Somali waters had increased security alert levels in recent weeks. There was no immediate information on the fate of the crew aboard Fahad-4, and Somali authorities had not publicly commented on the vessel’s status at the time of reporting. The Joint Maritime Information Centre (JMIC), a multinational maritime security body monitoring the Indian Ocean, recently raised piracy threat levels to “severe” following a series of attacks targeting commercial shipping routes. Several vessels hijacked in recent weeks reportedly remain under pirate control. Maritime monitors said pirates seized the Bajan-flagged tanker Honour 25 off Puntland on April 21. Days later, the Syrian-flagged M/V Sward was also hijacked off the Somali coast. Across the Gulf of Aden, pirates took control of the Togo-flagged petrol tanker Eureka off Yemen before steering the vessel towards Somali waters. In a recent security bulletin, the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean, linked to the European naval force operating around the Horn of Africa, s