Yemen reports hijacked oil tanker headed for Somalia
Key takeaways
- Officials say pirates have become emboldened as naval forces patrolling the Red Sea area are distracted by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and civilian maritime routes diverted.
- The “M/T Eureka” was seized off Yemen’s southeastern Shabwa province as armed assailants boarded and took control of the vessel, the coastguard said in a statement on Saturday.
- The attack is at least the fourth to take place near Somalia in recent weeks, with pirate activity in the area on the rise in an apparent reaction to the war in Iran.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Officials say pirates have become emboldened as naval forces patrolling the Red Sea area are distracted by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and civilian maritime routes diverted.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Somalia maritime police from PMPF patrol in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of semi-autonomous Puntland State in Somalia [File: Jackson Njehia/AP]By Daniel Tari and News Agencies Published On 2 May 20262 May 2026Yemen’s Coast Guard has said that it is attempting to recover an oil tanker that was hijacked off the coast and is now heading towards Somalia.
The “M/T Eureka” was seized off Yemen’s southeastern Shabwa province as armed assailants boarded and took control of the vessel, the coastguard said in a statement on Saturday. The hijackers then steered the tanker to the Gulf of Aden towards the Somali coast.