Unidentified attackers seized an oil tanker off Yemen’s coast on Saturday, directing it towards Somalia. The Yemeni coast guard confirmed the tanker EUREKA was taken by a group who “boarded, took control of it, then steered it… in the direction of the Somali coast”. The coast guard pledged to investigate and monitor the vessel to ensure crew safety.
The EUREKA is Togolese-flagged, last reported at UAE’s Fujairah port in late March. Piracy was common off Somalia in the 2000s, peaking in 2011 with hundreds of attacks, but has since decreased due to international naval deployments and commercial shipping tactics. However, recent weeks have seen an increase in piracy, according to EU naval mission Operation Atalanta.
The US-Israeli war against Iran has also disrupted shipping in the region since February 28, though it’s unclear if this hijacking is related. In April, a tanker was captured by pirates from Garacad, Puntland state, Somalia.