In brief
Somali gunmen boarded the tanker MT Asana 65 nautical miles off Yemen, marking the second hijack of a vessel in the Gulf of Aden this month. UKMTO warned of unauthorised personnel aboard while Puntland officials confirmed the Somali attackers had departed from Garacad. The incident follows a earlier seizure of MT Eureka near Yemen’s Qana and attacks in April, underscoring a resurgence of piracy. Anti‑piracy patrols are lighter in the Gulf of Aden, a factor that authorities suggest has enabled this resurgence.
Somali pirates seized the Tanzanian‑flagged tanker MT Asana 65 nautical miles off Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, marking the second hijacking of a vessel in the region this month.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that the vessel was boarded by “unauthorised personnel”, while Puntland officials confirmed the attackers were Somali gunmen who had departed from Garacad, a town on Somalia’s east coast.
MT Asana was heading for the port of Bosaso when the incident occurred. The incident follows a previous seizure of MT Eureka near the Yemeni port of Qana and earlier attacks on two other ships in April.
Although anti‑piracy patrols by the European Union Naval Force cover much of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden is less protected, a factor that authorities say may have allowed the syndicate to re‑emerge.
The map below shows the approximate location of the hijack, 65 nm off Yemen’s coast.
