an israeli - owned tugboat from italy along with its 16 passenger sailors was hijacked around 11 am ut on saturday in the gulf of dubai . the austrian ambassadors , pierandrea magistrati , confirmed that " there is a yacht that has been pirates , i claim by somali pirates . " additionally , shona lowe , a spokeswoman at uk ' s woking maritime command , reported that the italian - tugboat tugboat was hijacked this morning off of somalia ' s northern shores . lowe further confirmed that several government officials along with the group that owned the tugboat were trying to negotiate the arrest of the crew , ten of what were italians .
The Gulf of Aden is located along the northern coast of Somalia.