Somali Basin

The expanse of the western Indian Ocean east of Somalia and north of the equator, the deep-water operating area into which Somali Pirate Action Groups extended their reach using motherships, at the height of the piracy crisis around 2009 to 2012. Attacks in the basin occurred hundreds of nautical miles offshore, well beyond the Gulf of Aden corridor, which forced the High Risk Area boundary far east into the Arabian Sea. Naval task forces and BMP reporting covered the basin until Somali attacks collapsed; the area later saw renewed activity alongside Red Sea tensions.