An oil tanker off the coast of Yemen was hijacked Saturday and diverted toward Somalia’s waters, according to Yemen’s Coast Guard, the latest in a spate of ship abductions around the Horn of Africa in recent weeks.
An official in Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland region, along with experts briefed by Yemeni and Somali authorities, said the attack had been carried out by armed Somali pirates.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss sensitive intelligence, said that some Yemenis were also suspected in the attack and that the government was investigating whether they had ties to armed groups, including the Houthis.
Since April, at least three vessels have been hijacked by Somali pirates off the country’s coast. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British Navy, recently raised the threat level around the coast of Somalia to “substantial” and urged ships to proceed with caution.
Yemen’s Coast Guard said that the tanker, the Togo-flagged Eureka, was subjected to an armed robbery by “unidentified” people, who boarded the ship and directed it through Yemen’s Gulf of Aden toward Somalia’s coast. Efforts to monitor and recover the vessel were underway, it said.
Mohammed Al-Basha, a regional analyst briefed on the seizure by Yemeni and Somali authorities, said the attack had heightened concerns in both governments about potential collaboration between Somali pirates and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, raising fears of a broader resurgence in piracy in response to the Iran war.
The Houthi militia and Somali pirates have cultivated an alliance over the years, with the rebels at times providing technology and military backup.
Analysts say the war could give the groups more reason to work together, as a dual blockade has jammed global oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and increased fuel prices, creating an opportunity to profit.
The effective closure of the strategically vital waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war, has rattled global markets and forced countries to find workarounds.
Around 850 large vessels are currently stranded in the region, awaiting safe passage, with around 20,000 seafarers affected.
Mr. Al-Basha said Saturday’s attack was particularly striking because of how close it was to Yemen’s coast.
“You don’t come to Yemeni waters to hijack a ship without having support from mainland Yemen,” he said, adding that the Houthis have sought to expand their reach into the Horn of Africa and that ties with Somali networks “could help them make money and increase geopolitical pressure.”
Data from Vessel Finder, a maritime tracking database, shows that the Eureka last docked in the United Arab Emirates. After sailing close to Yemen’s coastline, the data shows, the ship made a sharp turn toward Somalia and was last tracked roughly halfway between the two countries.
