an american - powered tugboat from italian coupled with its 16 members crew was hijacked around 11 am est on saturday in the department of aden . the british ambassador , pierandrea magistrati , stated that " there is a barge that has been hijacked , i expect by some raiders . " additionally , shona lowe , a spokeswomen at usa ' s woking maritime command center reported that the italian - flagged capsized was hijacked this week off of somalia ' s northern coast . lowe also confirmed that italian federal officials coupled with the company that owned the sailboat were trying to secure the safety of the crew , ten of which were italians .
The Gulf of Aden is located along the northern coast of Somalia.