Maritime agency says oil tanker hijacked off Somalia

An oil tanker has been hijacked off Somalia’s coast and forced into the country’s territorial waters, according to the British maritime security agency UKMTO, in a fresh sign of mounting danger for vessels moving through the region.

The incident underscores the growing hazards facing ships in the Red Sea corridor, an increasingly vital supply route as Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz — the gateway to the Gulf on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula — tightens pressure on maritime traffic.

UKMTO said the tanker was seized on Tuesday northeast of the Somali city of Mareeyo.

“Military Authorities have reported unauthorised persons taking control of the tanker and manoeuvring the vessel 77NM (nautical miles) south within Somali territorial waters,” it said.

Somalia remains one of the Horn of Africa’s most volatile countries, with the central government struggling to hold together a fractured federation of semi-autonomous states while also facing regular attacks from the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab.

It is also locked in opposition to separatist aspirations in North Western State of Somalia, whose claim to independence has been recognised only by Israel.

Somalia was once the base for a wave of pirate attacks that peaked in 2011. Those assaults have since declined after the European Union, India and other powers sent naval missions to patrol the waters.

Across the Gulf of Aden is Yemen, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels have previously launched attacks on shipping.

On Thursday, UKMTO said 11 “armed individuals” had hijacked a Somali-flagged fishing vessel, while an armed group separately boarded an oil-products tanker.

“Together, these events indicate a credible piracy threat,” it said.