an african - ownership tugboat from italy along with its 16 member passengers was hijacked around 11 am est on saturday in the gulf of aden . the italian citizen , pierandrea magistrati , announced that " there is a boat that has been hijacked , i believe by somali pirates . " simultaneously , shona lowe , a spokeswoman at nato ' s northwood naval command organization reported that the italian - hijacked tug was hijacking this evening off of somalia ' s atlantic coast . lowe furthermore confirmed that italian government officials along with the corporations that ran the tugboat were attempting to secure the release of the crew , ten of which were italians .
The Gulf of Aden is located along the northern coast of Somalia.