YEMEN, May 3 — An oil tanker was hijacked Saturday off the coast of Yemen in an armed attack by unidentified assailants, with authorities working to track and recover the vessel, the Yemeni coast guard said, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.
In a statement, the coast guard said it is “following up on a report received this morning regarding the hijacking of the oil tanker M/T EUREKA off the coast of Shabwa province,” without specifying the ship’s ownership.
The statement added that the tanker “was subjected to an armed robbery by unknown elements, who boarded and took control of it before heading towards the Gulf of Aden in the direction of Somali shores.”
It noted that “immediately after receiving the report, the Yemeni coast guard launched operational measures by dispatching two patrol boats from Aden, in addition to smaller patrol boats from Shabwa, as part of search and tracking operations to determine the vessel’s location despite limited resources and the country’s exceptional conditions.”
The coast guard said it is coordinating with international partners and relevant authorities in the Gulf of Aden, adding that “this has led to identifying the tanker’s location, and efforts are ongoing to monitor it and take necessary measures to recover it and ensure the safety of its crew.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the hijacking.
Earlier Saturday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations reported a separate maritime incident off the coast of Mukalla in Yemen’s eastern Hadramout province, the second such incident in less than 24 hours.
In a statement, it said the master of a cargo vessel reported a small green boat approaching within 500 metres, accompanied by a white fishing vessel, without providing further details on ownership or circumstances.
