Oil Tanker Hijacked off Yemen Coast

Gunmen hijacked an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen on Saturday and were steering it towards Somalia, the Yemeni coast guard said.

The M/T Eureka was seized off Yemen’s Shabwa province by unidentified armed men who “boarded it, took control and then steered it towards the Somali coast”. The coast guard, which is affiliated with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, said it would investigate the attack, Reuters and AFP reported.

“The location of the tanker has been determined and work is underway to monitor it and take the necessary measures in an effort to recover it and ensure the safety of its crew”, the coast guard said.

According to the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic, the M/T Eureka flies the flag of Togo and was docked at the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates at the end of March.

(reuters, tasr, afp)