The hijacking of a Kenyan ship off the coasts of Somalia on Sunday is likely to hamper the delivery of food aid to the country, aid officials have said.
The number of piracy incidents drastically dropped last year after Islamist fighters, who took control of the capital, clamped down on the hijackers, partly in a bid to protect their weapons shipments.
But there are fears of an upsurge in piracy since the Islamists were defeated by Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops in early January.
The hijackings will force aid agencies to seek alternative and costly land routes for delivering aid to Somalia, World Food Program (WFP) spokeswomen Stephanie Savariaud told Voice of America.
Contractors will be reluctant to take on these deliveries because of the security risks, subsequently slowing down the delivery of food by sea, she said.
Pirates hijacked the MV Rozen with its 12 crew members on board near the semi-autonomous Puntland region after it had dropped off 1,800 tons of emergency food supplies in the country and was heading back to its chief port in Kenya.
The vessel had been hired by the United Nations WFP. Its crew members included six Kenyans and six Sri Lankans.
A U.S. Navy warship has been sent to the region to monitor the situation from a distance.