Somali Pirates Hijack Oil Tanker Off Yemen Coast, Head Toward Somalia

Somali pirates hijacked an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen and directed it toward Somalia, according to security officials and the Yemeni coast guard. The MT Eureka was boarded and controlled in the Gulf of Aden near the port of Qana, off the Shabwa coast. The incident occurred at 5 a.m. local time, or 3 a.m. BST.

The tanker, sailing under the flag of Togo, was overrun by gunmen who departed from a remote coastal area near Qandala in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region. Three security officials from Puntland confirmed the pirates' origin to the BBC. The vessel is now in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia, expected to anchor in Somali waters soon.

This marks the fourth successful pirate hijacking in two weeks. >"The on-going crisis with the pirates is much worse than many realize. There are increasing movements (of armed groups) all over the coast" — a security official from the semi-autonomous Puntland region.

It is the second oil tanker hijacking in the area within 10 days, following the seizure of the Honor 25 on April 22. That vessel carried 18,500 barrels of oil bound for Mogadishu. In a separate event, armed persons on a skiff approached a bulk carrier near Al-Mukala, Yemen, on Friday.

Those individuals departed from near the fishing town of Caluula, 209 kilometers from the MT Eureka hijackers' starting point. The incidents indicate piracy expansion along Somalia's 3,333-kilometer coastline, the longest in mainland Africa.

Somali piracy had declined since 2011 but surged again since late 2023. Houthi rebels' attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea diverted international navies to address that threat. This shift allowed armed groups on the Somali coast to exploit the security gap.

Somali authorities and the European Union Naval Force have not yet addressed the latest hijacking. The United Kingdom Maritime Transportation Operation reported the approach near Al-Mukala. The two events highlight growing activity across the region.