Aden (South24 Center)

An oil products tanker identified as “M/T EUREKA” was hijacked off the coast of Shabwa in South Yemen on Saturday (May 2), in a major maritime security incident that coincided with a surge in suspicious activity along shipping lanes near the Hadramout coast within less than 24 hours.

The Yemeni Coast Guard said that unidentified armed individuals boarded the vessel in what it described as an act of armed robbery at sea, managing to seize control of the tanker before steering it toward the Gulf of Aden in the direction of the Somali coast.

It added that its units immediately launched tracking operations following the incident, deploying patrol boats from Aden and Shabwa in coordination with international partners operating in the Gulf of Aden. Authorities later confirmed that the tanker had been located, while operations are still ongoing to recover it and ensure the safety of its crew.

According to data from VesselFinder, a maritime tracking platform, the tanker “M/T EUREKA” is classified as an oil products tanker flying the flag of Togo, with an International Maritime Organization (IMO) number 1022823, and was built in 2006. Tracking data shows that the vessel is currently listed as “stopped” and out of coverage range, with its last Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal transmitted on the evening of April 30, approximately one day and 18 hours before the incident was reported.

This raise concerns that the vessel’s tracking systems may have been disabled following the hijacking. The tanker has a deadweight of approximately 3,353 tons, with a length of 88 meters and a width of 13 meters, and records indicate it was previously known as “DAHAB” until October 2023 and “FRANKLIN 3” prior to that. Its last recorded departure was from the Sharjah anchorage in February, as part of a regional route that included ports such as Khor Al-Zubair in Iraq and Kandla in India.

The hijacking came less than 24 hours after two separate reports of suspicious maritime activity off the coast of Mukalla in Hadramout, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which said it had received notifications regarding small boats approaching commercial vessels in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor.

The first incident occurred on Friday (May 1), approximately 92 nautical miles southwest of Mukalla, where a small boat carrying seven-armed individuals approached a bulk carrier, while a second incident was reported the following day about 84 nautical miles away, involving a small boat accompanied by a fishing vessel approaching a commercial ship at close range. The UKMTO classified both incidents as “suspicious activity” without confirming an actual attack, urging vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report any unusual movements.

The succession of these incidents indicates an increasing frequency of maritime threats in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a vital corridor for international trade, amid rising regional tensions and growing concerns over navigational security, particularly in shipping lanes near the Yemeni coast.