an english - owned sailboat from sardinia along with its 16 woman men was jetliner around 11 am est on saturday in the gulf of aden . the italian ambassador , pierandrea magistrati , stated that " there is a steamer that has been hijacked , i believe by somali pirates . " additionally , wolof lowe , a spokeswoman at nato ' s northwood sea commission organization alleged that the us - flagged tugboat was hijacked this morning off of somalia ' s northern coasts . lowe also confirmed that italian government officials along with the company that owned the tugboat were trying to gain the parole of the crew , ten of which were italians .
The Gulf of Aden is located along the northern coast of Somalia.