The eastern coasts of Yemen recorded a new ship hijacking incident on Thursday, reinforcing the spread of piracy in areas witnessing a multi-polar regional conflict.
Exclusive – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed in a statement that 6-armed individuals took control of an oil tanker and led it towards the Somali coast.
The incident occurred 136 miles east of the city of Mukalla.
The hijacked ship is known as “Sibu 1,” an oil tanker flying the Eritrean flag, unidentified by the owner, and listed on the US sanctions list.
The ship’s last port was in Sharjah in the UAE.
This is the second ship belonging to the UAE or carrying an Emirati oil shipment to be intercepted off Yemen’s eastern coast.
The maritime area extending from the Arabian Sea to the Gulf of Aden has become a zone of escalating piracy since the beginning of this year, after the Saudi navy announced its control over the area following its expulsion of the UAE.
The behind-the-scenes of what is happening are not yet clear, and whether the ship was carrying an oil shipment for the Yemeni forces loyal to the UAE and was pirated by Saudi Arabia, or if it is part of Emirati attempts to internationalize the region amid escalating piracy operations.
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