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An unidentified group hijacked an oil tanker off Yemen’s coast in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, steering it toward Somalia, according to the Yemeni coast guard. The vessel, named EUREKA, was seized near Shabwa province by individuals who boarded the ship, took control, and then navigated it in the direction of the Somali shoreline. The coast guard, linked to Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has committed to investigating the incident.
“The position of the tanker has been confirmed, and efforts are underway to track it and implement measures aimed at recovering it and protecting its crew,” the statement read, without revealing the crew’s size or nationality.
MarineTraffic reports indicate that EUREKA is a Togolese-flagged oil products tanker, which was last reported to be docked at Fujairah port in the United Arab Emirates in late March.
Piracy along Somalia’s coast reached its climax in the 2000s, with hundreds of attacks peaking in 2011. International naval patrols and improved shipping tactics significantly curbed these acts. However, recent weeks have seen a resurgence in attacks, according to a report from the European Union naval mission operating off Somalia’s eastern coast.
Operation Atalanta, the EU’s naval unit dedicated to monitoring the region, documented three assaults in late April, as reported by the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO).
Since late February, shipping in the region has faced disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict between the US-Israel alliance and Iran. Nonetheless, there is no immediate evidence connecting Saturday’s hijacking to the broader conflict.
Last month, a new faction of pirates operating out of Garacad in Puntland, northeast Somalia, captured another tanker, a security official from the area told AFP.
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