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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 20 Aug 202620 Aug 2026<\/p>\n
A tanker has been \u2060boarded by six armed people who took \u2060control of the vessel off the coast of Yemen<\/a> and diverted it towards Somalia, according to the United Kingdom \u200cMaritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre.<\/p>\n UKMTO said on Thursday that it had received a report of an incident 136 nautical miles (252km) \u2060east of Yemen\u2019s Al Mukalla, where the Seamull tanker, also known as SIBU 1, broadcast a distress call that it was being \u2060approached by an unauthorised \u2060vessel while travelling westwards in the Gulf of Aden.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cUKMTO have received confirmation that the tanker has been boarded by six armed persons who are now in control of the vessel and redirecting to Somalia,\u201d UKMTO said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cAuthorities are investigating. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.\u201d<\/p>\n The maritime security monitor provided no further details and did not say \u200cwhether the tanker or its crew were safe.<\/p>\n The SIBU 1 has been seized in one of the world\u2019s busiest shipping lanes, as the Gulf of Aden <\/a>feeds into the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, the fastest maritime link between Asia and Europe. Roughly 12 to 15 percent of global trade by value passes through the canal each year, along with about 30 percent of the world\u2019s container traffic.<\/p>\n Piracy was rampant off the coast of Somalia in the 2000s and peaked in 2011 before being curbed by international naval deployments and new security measures for commercial shipping.<\/p>\n The attack follows a marked resurgence<\/a> since April in Somali piracy, which had been largely dormant for more than a decade until this year.<\/p>\n Five cargo ships are currently held hostage \u2013 including an oil tanker that was seized in July<\/a> about 26 nautical miles (48km) off Yemen\u2019s Hadramout province.<\/p>\n Between 2005 and 2012, Somali pirates were blamed for more than 1,000 attacks, worth approximately $400m in ransom payments<\/a>, prompting an international crackdown that all but ended hijackings in 2013.<\/p>\n