Pirates attack a petroleum products tanker off the coast of Yemen

Aden, July 17 (KUNA) – A Yemeni government report announced on Friday that the chemical and petroleum products tanker “MT Asana” was subjected to a maritime piracy attack in the Gulf of Aden by armed men who seized the vessel and headed toward the Somali coast. The report, issued by the Regional Maritime Information Sharing Centre under the General Authority for Maritime Affairs in Yemen, stated that unauthorized armed individuals boarded the Tanzanian-flagged tanker at 6:20 a.m. on Friday and took full control of it while it was sailing eastward in the Gulf of Aden’s open waters, approximately 65 miles south of the coast of Al-Mukalla, the capital of Yemen’s Hadhramaut Governorate, as it transited the international shipping lane eastward.

It noted that tracking data showed clear indicators of maritime piracy, as the ship was diverted toward the Somali coast, specifically toward the port of Bosaso in the Puntland region, with the aim of hijacking the vessel and its crew to demand a ransom. The report added that the ship issued a distress call after being breached by armed elements suspected of belonging to a piracy group that boarded the vessel. The absence of an armed security team facilitated the hijacking in the area, which is classified as high-risk.

The Yemeni Regional Centre emphasized the importance of commercial vessels adhering to recommended maritime security procedures when transiting high-risk areas, and called for strengthening preventive measures and continuous coordination with relevant maritime authorities to ensure the safety of international navigation in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.

Earlier on Friday, reports from international maritime security bodies had indicated that armed men had boarded the chemical tanker “Asana” in the Gulf of Aden and taken control of the ship in an act of piracy linked to Somali groups. (End) S.N.S./H.S.S.