An alliance of Somali pirates and Houthi militias?
The oceans have become increasingly more dangerous, with military conflicts targeting cargo ships in the Black Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, the Strait of Hormuz… and around the Horn of Africa, where there’s an ongoing resurgence of activity by Somali Pirates.
Yesterday (2), an oil tanker was hijacked off the coast of Yemen and diverted toward Somalia’s waters.
The attack was reportedly carried out by armed Somali pirates, but some Yemenis with ties to armed groups – and even to the Houthi militia – were also suspected of participating in the attack.
The New York Times reported:
“Since April, at least three vessels have been hijacked by Somali pirates off the country’s coast. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British Navy, recently raised the threat level around the coast of Somalia to ‘substantial’ and urged ships to proceed with caution.
Yemen’s Coast Guard said that the tanker, the Togo-flagged Eureka, was subjected to an armed robbery by ‘unidentified’ people, who boarded the ship and directed it through Yemen’s Gulf of Aden toward Somalia’s coast. Efforts to monitor and recover the vessel were underway, it said.”
Hellbound and Down 