MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali pirates hijacked an oil products tanker off Yemen, a Somali maritime security official said, the latest in a resurgence of piracy that has seen six commercial vessels seized since April across the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean.Six armed pirates hijacked the Eritrean-flagged M.T. Sibu 1 on Thursday about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) east of al-Mukalla, Yemen, and took it toward Somalia’s Puntland coast, the official, who has knowledge of the incident, told The Associated Press on Friday. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to discuss the matter publicly. The Sibu 1, managed by the UAE-based Qatrat Alnada Almasi Ship Management, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for allegedly belonging to an Iranian “shadow fleet” used to transport petroleum products seeking to evade U.S. sanctions.
The tanker had 20 crew members aboard: 16 Indians, one Syrian, one Sudanese, and one Iraqi. The nationality of one crew member was not immediately known. The vessel’s previous port of departure and intended destination remained unclear.The hijacking came three days after pirates seized the Lutuf, a Cameroon-flagged general cargo vessel, off Somalia’s coast. The vessel had 10 crew aboard, including six Indians, a Turkish national, a Georgian national and two Serbian security guards, according to maritime tracking reports.
