Seven attackers have intercepted the Tanzanian-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Aden

Somali pirates have hijacked the Tanzanian-flagged fuel and chemical tanker MT Asana off the coast of Yemen, a local news agency reported on Monday.

According to Tanzania's The Citizen, the tanker has a crew of 20, including 10 Filipino nationals and eight Germans. Three Somali security officials also identified the captured ship as the MT Asana in comments to the BBC. They said the attackers launched the operation from a remote area near the port town of Garacad before intercepting the tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

The vessel was seized on Friday after departing the Yemeni port of Mukalla, according to the Associated Press, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the incident.

The tanker had been heading toward Bosaso in Somalia when seven armed pirates reportedly boarded the ship and forced it into Somali territorial waters near Puntland.

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has also confirmed that military authorities had tracked the vessel entering Somali territorial waters and "re-classified this incident as hijack." It said the case remains under investigation.

The Tanzanian authorities have not yet confirmed the full details of the incident. Chief government spokesman Gerson Msigwa said officials were working to verify the vessel's connection to the country.

"We are following up, and once we have complete and accurate information, we will issue an official statement to the public," Msigwa said.

The hijacking is the second reported seizure of a vessel off Yemen since May, when the tanker MT Eureka was captured near the port of Qana. It follows two other piracy incidents in the Indian Ocean in April.

From 2008 to 2018, Somali pirates disrupted critical world waterways, causing widespread chaos. After a period of relative quiet, pirate activity has begun to rise again. Piracy off the coast of Somalia hit its peak in 2011.

READ MORE: Pirates board tanker off Somali coast

Earlier this month, the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) warned of a resurgence of Somali piracy despite a global decline in maritime attacks. According to the bureau, Somali pirates were responsible for 94% of all crew taken hostage worldwide in the first half of 2026.

(RT.com)