Suspected Somali Pirates Hijack Oil Tanker off Yemen’s Coast

GOOBJOOG NEWS | MOGADISHU: An oil tanker was hijacked off Yemen’s southeastern coast on Friday in an attack that Yemeni authorities blamed on suspected Somali pirates, marking the latest sign of a resurgence in piracy in one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors.

The vessel, identified as Asana, was seized about 26 nautical miles (48 km) off the coast of Yemen’s Hadramawt province while transiting the Gulf of Aden, according to Yemen’s Coast Guard.

Britain’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which monitors security incidents in regional waters, said the tanker had been boarded by unidentified individuals and that the incident remained under investigation.

Preliminary reports indicated the vessel was heading towards Somali waters after the hijacking, prompting Yemeni authorities to deploy naval units and surveillance aircraft to monitor its movements.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and Reuters could not independently verify Yemen’s allegation that Somali pirates were behind the attack.

The hijacking comes amid growing concern over a resurgence of piracy off the Horn of Africa after more than a decade of relative calm. Maritime security analysts say the renewed threat has been fuelled by reduced international naval patrols, persistent instability in parts of Somalia and the diversion of naval resources to address attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the Red Sea.

The Gulf of Aden is a critical maritime corridor linking the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal, carrying an estimated 12% to 15% of global trade and roughly 30% of the world’s container traffic each year.

The European Union and other international maritime security partners have stepped up naval patrols in the region in recent months as concerns grow over both piracy and wider security risks affecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean.

Somali piracy, which peaked between 2008 and 2012, had largely been brought under control through coordinated international naval operations, armed security teams aboard merchant vessels and improved maritime policing. However, several attempted and successful hijackings reported since late 2023 have raised concerns that pirate networks may once again be exploiting security gaps in regional waters.