Somali pirates have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, several Somali security officials told the BBC.
Yemeni coast guards had earlier reported that the MT Eureka tanker had been hijacked and was heading toward Somalia. According to sources, the vessel was captured by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, near the port of Qana.
According to three security officials from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, the pirates set out from a remote area near the town of Qandala on the Gulf of Aden coast.
This incident is the second oil tanker hijacking in the region within ten days. Earlier, on April 22, the vessel Honor 25 was seized by Somali pirates.
According to reports, the Honor 25 was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil toward Mogadishu.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also reported a separate incident, stating that armed individuals approached a commercial vessel near Al-Mukalla off the coast of Yemen.
Experts note that these incidents indicate a resurgence of pirate activity off the Somali coast. The security situation along Africa's longest coastline—3,333 kilometers—is worsening.
Together with the latest hijacking, this marks the fourth successful pirate attack within two weeks.
Somali officials and the European Union naval forces have not yet commented on the incident.
