MOGADISHU – Somali pirates hijacked the oil tanker ASANA off Yemen’s eastern coast on Friday, marking the fourth vessel seizure in recent months and signalling a troubling resurgence of piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
The Tanzanian-flagged chemical tanker was attacked approximately 26 nautical miles off the coast of Hadramout province and is now being sailed slowly southeast toward the Somali coast, according to the Yemeni Coast Guard. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) separately reported an “illegal boarding” about 65 nautical miles south of the port of Al Mukalla.
The hijacking is the latest in a series of attacks that have shattered more than a decade of relative calm in waters once notorious for piracy. Between 2005 and 2012, Somali pirates carried out over 1,000 attacks and collected an estimated $400 million in ransom payments before an international naval crackdown sharply reduced the threat. The shipping industry formally removed the Indian Ocean from its “high risk” designation in 2023, but piracy has resurged this year, with the French navy’s MICA Center recording 18 piracy-related incidents since April.
The Yemeni Coast Guard said its operations centre immediately began coordinating with international partners and maritime authorities to verify the vessel’s status and support efforts to ensure navigational safety.
“Naval units, including a Yemeni Coast Guard patrol boat, were heading toward the tanker while aerial surveillance missions monitored the situation,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
Preliminary reports indicate a single person was seen near the vessel’s bridge as the tanker moved slowly toward Somalia. Three Puntland security officials told the BBC that seven gunmen seized the vessel after setting off from a remote area near the Puntland port town of Garacad. The tanker was en route to Bosaso, Puntland, when it was boarded.
This is the second hijacking off Yemen since May, when the MT Eureka was seized near the port of Qana. At least three other vessels remain held for ransom along the coasts of Puntland’s Bari and Mudug regions.
Security analysts attribute the renewed attacks to reduced naval patrols as international forces focus on conflicts in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. The Gulf of Aden, through which roughly 12 to 15 percent of global trade passes annually, remains lightly patrolled compared to the heavily guarded Indian Ocean
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