Aden (South24 Center)

The hijacking of a Tanzanian-flagged tanker off the southern coast of Yemen has heightened fears of a renewed surge in Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden, where dozens of attacks and attempted attacks have been recorded over the past three months.

The chemical and oil-products tanker MT ASANA was hijacked by suspected Somali pirates after leaving the port of Mukalla in Hadramout Governorate on Friday, July 17.

The vessel was subsequently taken across the Gulf of Aden and was being held on Sunday off the coast of Caluula, in the Bari region of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland state, according to security sources and local officials cited by the Associated Press.

The sources said seven armed Somali pirates were believed to have taken control of the tanker. The number and nationalities of the crew remain unknown, and there have been no confirmed reports of injuries.

As of Sunday, Puntland authorities, the vessel’s owner and international naval forces operating in the area had not issued detailed statements regarding the condition of the crew.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said unauthorized individuals boarded the vessel while it was sailing eastward approximately 65 nautical miles south of Mukalla.

UKMTO later reclassified the incident as a hijacking after military authorities confirmed that the vessel had been taken into Somali waters.

The Regional Maritime Information Exchange Center, affiliated with Yemen’s General Authority for Maritime Affairs in Aden, identified the vessel as the MT ASANA, a Tanzanian-flagged chemical and oil-products tanker carrying the International Maritime Organization number IMO 9035838.

According to a preliminary report issued by the center, maritime operations centers received a confirmed alert at approximately 06:20 GMT on Friday indicating that armed individuals had boarded the tanker and gained full control of it while it was sailing eastward through the Gulf of Aden.

The vessel transmitted a distress signal during the attack and did not have a private armed security team on board.

Tracking systems subsequently recorded a sharp change in the vessel’s course toward the Somali coast, specifically in the direction of Bosaso in Puntland.

Yemeni maritime authorities said the circumstances of the incident indicated a piracy operation aimed at holding the vessel and its crew for ransom.

Public tracking data reviewed by the Associated Press showed the tanker moving at approximately two knots after it was seized, an unusually slow speed consistent with reports that it had transmitted a distress signal.

The vessel had listed Bosaso as its destination before being moved farther east to waters off Caluula.

The Yemeni Coast Guard said the tanker was initially seized more than 26 nautical miles off the coast of Hadramout, while UKMTO placed the boarding approximately 65 nautical miles south of Mukalla.

The Coast Guard said a Yemeni patrol boat and other maritime assets had moved toward the tanker, while aerial reconnaissance flights monitored its movement southeast toward Somalia.

The seizure of the ASANA is the latest indication that Somali pirate networks are rebuilding their capacity to operate far from Somalia’s coastline and seize commercial vessels transiting international shipping routes.

On July 6, the International Maritime Organization said it had recorded 24 actual and attempted incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region during the previous three months alone.

The organization added that 44 seafarers remained captive aboard three vessels—the MT Honour 25, Eureka and Sward—which were hijacked in separate incidents between April and May off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

According to the organization, the crews face severe shortages of food and water, as well as continuing threats of violence.

The European Union’s anti-piracy mission, Operation Atalanta, said the resurgence in piracy, which began in November 2023, had entered a more serious phase by April 2026.

It said pirate networks had not managed to hold more than three hijacked vessels simultaneously since resuming their activities before the latest wave.

The EU operation partly attributed the increase in activity to favorable maritime conditions and instability caused by broader regional conflicts, which have placed growing pressure on international naval forces and resources.

It confirmed that the Honour 25, Sward and Eureka were all taken into Somali territorial waters during the wave of hijackings in April and May.

The ASANA could now become the fourth commercial vessel held in Somali waters, although the number of crew members and the conditions of their detention remain unclear.

The latest figures from the International Maritime Bureau present a contrasting picture at the global and regional levels.

Globally, piracy and armed robbery incidents fell to their lowest first-half level since 1992, with 38 incidents recorded between January and June 2026, compared with 90 during the same period in 2025.

However, five vessels were hijacked and 67 crew members were taken hostage during the first half of this year.

Somali pirates were responsible for 94 percent of all seafarers taken hostage, demonstrating their continuing ability to board and seize different types of vessels despite the overall global decline in piracy incidents.

An analysis published by South24 Center on June 9 warned that the return of Somali piracy should not be viewed as an isolated criminal phenomenon, but rather as part of a broader deterioration in the security environment stretching from Somalia and the Gulf of Aden to Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea.

The analysis noted that the international maritime deterrence system had gradually weakened as military and intelligence capabilities were redirected toward other crises, including the war in Ukraine, tensions in the South China Sea and Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

According to the analysis, this shift created greater room for Somali pirate networks to reorganize and restore their operational capabilities.

It also identified the fragility of Somalia’s state institutions, the country’s limited capacity to monitor a coastline extending for more than 3,300 kilometres, the economic incentives driving criminal networks and the expansion of cross-border smuggling routes as structural factors contributing to the resurgence of piracy.

Although Somali pirates and the Houthis have different objectives—with pirates primarily seeking ransom payments, while the Houthis present their maritime attacks as part of a regional political and military conflict—the cumulative effect of their activities converges in increasing risks to seafarers, raising insurance and shipping costs, and undermining confidence in the security of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden maritime corridors.