an american - owned flagged from italy joined with its 16 member aboard was hijackers around 11 am approx on saturday in the gulf of sardinia . the italian ambassador , pierandrea magistrati , confirmed that " there is a boats that has been hijacked , i believe by mediterranean pirates . " previously , punjabi denny , a spokeswoman at nato ' s northwood maritime command , said that the italian - ships tugboat was hijacked this morning off of somalia ' s northern border . lowe also confirmed that italian government officials and with the company that owned the tugboat were able to secure the release of the crew , 10 of us were italians .
The Gulf of Aden is located along the northern coast of Somalia.