A European naval force is en route to help a ship that was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, as another vessel narrowly escaped a similar attack, with piracy surging again in the region.

The European Union’s Operation Atalanta said on Friday that its assets were “close” to the Hellas Aphrodite, a Malta-flagged tanker which was seized by pirates the previous day.

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The attackers used machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) to board the vessel.

In its statement on Friday, Operation Atalanta said it was “ready to take the appropriate action and to respond respectively to this event”.

The rescue attempt comes amid fears for the safety of the 24 mariners on board the Hellas Aphrodite, which was carrying gasoline from India to South Africa when it came under attack.

Tracking data showed that the ship was more than 1,000km (620 miles) off the Somali coast, according to The Associated Press news agency.

The private security firm Ambrey said Thursday’s assault appeared to have been carried out by the same group of Somali pirates who recently captured an Iranian fishing boat, which they have subsequently been using as a base for their operations.

As the EU naval force neared the Hellas Aphrodite on Friday, the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) said another vessel had been unsuccessfully targeted by pirates on Friday.

In an alert published on X, UKMTO, which urged ships in the area to “transit with caution”, said the captain of a liquified natural gas tanker reported a boat approaching its stern, 528 nautical miles (equivalent to about 980km) southeast of Eyl, Somalia.

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“The small craft fired small arms and RPGs towards the vessel,” it said, noting that the larger ship escaped by increasing its speed.

After piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 with 237 attacks, the threat receded as a result of international naval patrols and the strengthening of the Somali government.

However, the number of piracy incidents appears to be on the rise this year.