DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Attackers seized a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, authorities stated. While no group instantly claimed duty, it comes as a minimum of two different maritime assaults in latest days have been linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, within the Gulf of Aden, the corporate and personal intelligence agency Ambrey stated. An American protection official, talking on situation of anonymity to debate intelligence issues, additionally confirmed to The Associated Press that the assault befell.
Zodiac known as the seizure “a suspected piracy incident.”
“Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew onboard,” Zodiac stated in a press release. “The Turkish-captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals. The vessel is carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid.”
Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., although different data straight linked Zodiac because the proprietor. London-based Zodiac Maritime is a part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. British company data listed two males with the final identify Ofer as a present and former director of Clumvez Shipping, together with Daniel Guy Ofer, who can also be a director at Zodiac Maritime.
It wasn’t instantly clear who was behind the assault. Nearby Aden is held by forces allied to Yemen’s internationally acknowledged authorities and a Saudi-led coalition that has battled Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for years. That a part of the Gulf of Aden in idea is below the management of these forces and is pretty distant from Houthi-controlled territory within the nation. Somali pirates additionally are usually not recognized to function in that space.
The U.S. protection official stated that it appeared “an unknown number of unidentified armed individuals” seized the ship.
“U.S. and coalition forces are in the vicinity and we are closely monitoring the situation,” the official stated.
Ambrey stated that it appeared that “U.S. naval forces are engaged in the situation and have asked vessels to stay clear of the area.”
Zodiac Maritime has been focused beforehand amid a wider yearslong shadow conflict between Iran and Israel. In 2021, a drone assault assessed by the U.S. and different Western nations to have been carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard Zodiac’s oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman.
The British army’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which gives warnings to sailors within the Middle East, had earlier issued a warning to sailors that “two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing” had been seen within the space. It issued one other warning saying that radio visitors urged a attainable assault had occurred earlier than acknowledging the seizure.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”