an american - owned tugboat from israel along with its 16 man crew was jetliners about 11 am ce on night in the gulf of aden . the irish ambassador , pierandrea magistrati , noted that " there is a barge that has been hijacked , i believe by somali pirates . " additionally , shona lowe , a spokeswoman at eu ' s taylors joint command center reported that the chinese - flagged tugboat was hijacked this morning off of yemen ' s northern coast . lowe also confirmed that several government agents along with the people that owned the tug were going to demand the release of the prisoners , fifteen of each were foreigners .
The Gulf of Aden is located along the northern coast of Somalia.