Tanker Hijacked in the Gulf of Aden and Diverted to Somalia

A tanker was boarded by six armed individuals who took control of the vessel and diverted it towards Somalia, as reported by UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

"UKMTO has received a report of an incident 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla, Yemen. A tanker has issued a distress call on VHF channel 16 reporting that an unauthorized vessel approached it while sailing westbound in the Gulf of Aden," the entity communicated.

"UKMTO has received confirmation that the tanker has been boarded by six armed individuals, who now have control of the vessel and are reorienting it towards Somalia. Authorities are investigating. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO," it added.

For its part, the ship tracking website MarineTraffic reported that "a tanker sailing under a false flag has been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden and reoriented towards Somalia. Data shows that the 32,200 deadweight refined product tanker updated its AIS destination to Port Sudan on August 15 and entered the Somali High Risk Area at 17:18 UTC on August 19."

"Its last AIS position before the reported boarding showed it sailing west-southwest through the Gulf of Aden at about 9.3 knots, with a reported draft of 10.9 meters," it complemented.

While there is no official confirmation of the name of the hijacked vessel, MarineTraffic identified it as the Sibu 1 (IMO 9204776). The vessel is registered under the flag of Eritrea and is included in the sanctions list of the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the name Seamull.