Hijacked tanker held off Puntland after Gulf of Aden seizure

July 23 ------ The hijacking of a Tanzanian-flagged chemical and oil-products tanker off Yemen’s southern coast has heightened concerns over a resurgence of Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden, where dozens of attacks and attempted boardings have been reported over the past three months.

The tanker, identified as the MT ASANA was seized by suspected Somali pirates on 17 July shortly after departing the Yemeni port of Mukalla in Hadramout Governorate, according to regional maritime authorities.

Security sources and local officials told the Associated Press that the vessel was later taken across the Gulf of Aden and was being held off the coast of Caluula in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region. According to the sources, seven armed men are believed to have boarded and taken control of the tanker. The number and nationalities of the crew have not been confirmed, and there have been no reports of injuries.

In a preliminary incident report, the Regional Maritime Information Exchange Center (RMIEC), which operates under Yemen’s General Authority for Maritime Affairs in Aden, said maritime operations centers received a confirmed alert at approximately 06:20 GMT on 17 July indicating that armed individuals had boarded the tanker and assumed full control while it was transiting eastbound through the Gulf of Aden.

The tanker transmitted a distress signal during the attack and was not carrying a privately contracted armed security team, the report said.

Ship-tracking data subsequently showed the vessel making an abrupt change of course toward Somalia, initially heading for the port of Bosaso in Puntland before later being tracked farther east off the coast of Caluula.

Public vessel-tracking data reviewed by the Associated Press showed the tanker proceeding at approximately two knots after the hijacking, an unusually slow speed that was consistent with reports of the distress call and loss of normal operations.

The incident comes amid growing concern that Somali pirate groups are attempting to re-establish operations after years of relative inactivity, exploiting heightened regional instability and the diversion of international naval resources to security threats linked to the conflict in the Red Sea.

Source: safety4sea.com