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Asana seized near Hadramaut
Suspected Somali pirates seized the chemical tanker Asana off Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, with the Yemeni coastguard saying it was taken about 26 nautical miles (48km) off Hadramawt province on Friday.
UKMTO said there was an “illegal boarding” 65 nautical miles (120km) south of the port of Mukalla, and that the vessel was boarded by “unauthorised personnel”.
The BBC said the hijacking was the second tanker seizure off Yemen since May, when the MT Eureka was seized near the port of Qana, and it said the craft hijacked on Friday was identified as MT Asana.
Puntland security officials told the BBC that the MT Asana was sailing under a Tanzanian flag and was en route to the port of Bosaso when it was boarded 65 nautical miles off Yemen.
The BBC also reported that the Gulf of Aden is more lightly protected than the Indian Ocean, where the European Union Naval Force oversees anti-piracy operations in Somalia.
Boarding details and response
UKMTO said the incident remained under investigation and urged vessels in the area to exercise caution and report suspicious activity, while early reports indicated a single person had been spotted near the vessel’s bridge.
The BBC reported that three Puntland security officials separately identified the craft hijacked on Friday as a tanker named MT Asana and said it was seized by seven gunmen who set off from a remote area near the Puntland port town of Garacad.
The BBC added that the MT Asana was sailing under a Tanzanian flag and was en route to the port of Bosaso in Puntland when it was boarded 65 nautical miles off Yemen.
A South Korean warship was in the area, an EU Aspides naval mission official told Reuters, and the BBC said the Gulf of Aden’s lighter protection could explain why it has become an area of operation for the pirates.
The Marine Insight report said the tanker sent a distress call at about 0620 GMT and was operating without an armed security team, while Ambrey assessed the attackers were likely part of a pirate action group.
Ransom risk and regional stakes
Maritime security officials said the incident showed “clear indications of an act of piracy aimed at detaining the ship and its crew for ransom,” and they said the vessel remained under the complete control of the armed men while efforts continued to determine the safety of the crew.
“An oil tanker has been seized off the coast of Yemen, in an attack the country’s coastguard says was carried out by Somali pirates”
The Asana hijacking followed a marked resurgence in Somali piracy that had been largely dormant for more than a decade until this year, and Al Jazeera said the Asana was seized in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Al Jazeera said the Gulf of Aden feeds into the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and it cited that Roughly 12 to 15 percent of global trade by value passes through the canal each year.
The Marine Insight report said the latest hijacking followed the seizure of the MT Eureka near Yemen’s Qana port in May and noted that MICA Center recorded 18 piracy incidents and hijackings since April with at least three vessels still being held for ransom.
The BBC said the Gulf of Aden is more lightly protected than the Indian Ocean, and it linked that difference to why piracy appears to be making a comeback in the area.
