Garowe (AX) — Puntland State maritime forces have freed the US-sanctioned oil tanker Sibu 1 after armed men hijacked it in the Gulf of Aden in August and diverted it toward Somalia, regional security officials said Friday.
The Puntland State Marine Police Force (PMPF) intercepted the vessel off Mudug’s coast after monitoring its movements for two days, Mohamed Jama said Friday.
- Advertisement -
“The ship is free and the pirates are all in the hands of our forces,” Jama told Reuters.
Puntland State security officials said one suspected pirate was killed and four others wounded in the operation. Authorities detained 15 people suspected of taking part in the hijacking, while one Puntland State soldier sustained injuries.
The tanker’s entire 20-member crew was rescued, officials said. Sixteen crew members are Indian nationals, with the others from Syria, Sudan and Iraq. The nationality of one crew member had not been confirmed.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the tanker was seized on Aug. 20 as it traveled west across the Gulf of Aden, roughly 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla in Yemen. Six armed men boarded the ship, took control and steered it toward Somalia.
Maritime-security reports said the crew sent a distress alert before losing control, warning that pirates had boarded the vessel.
Formerly named Seamull, the tanker was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in December 2025. Washington alleged that it belonged to a shadow fleet involved in moving Iranian petroleum products to evade U.S. sanctions.
The attack occurred as piracy has again intensified in waters around Somalia and Yemen.
Maritime-security data show that Sibu 1 was one of several commercial vessels targeted this year in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia. The attacks have revived concerns over a threat that fell sharply after international naval patrols and stronger security practices aboard ships were introduced more than a decade ago.
Somali piracy was at its height from 2008 to 2011, when armed groups captured dozens of ships and held their crews for ransom. The attacks disrupted one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and triggered a broad international naval response.
The recent attacks indicate that pirate groups can still operate well beyond Somalia’s coastline and capture larger commercial vessels, particularly in the Gulf of Aden.
Puntland State, which controls much of Somalia’s northeastern shoreline, has increasingly turned to its maritime police units to combat piracy and other crimes at sea as attacks have returned.
The recovery of Sibu 1 ranks among Puntland State forces’ most significant recent counter-piracy operations, securing the tanker, freeing all of its crew and taking suspected attackers into custody.
