Gunmen seize US-sanctioned tanker off Yemen

NAIROBI, Yemen - A US-sanctioned vessel was seized in the Gulf of Aden after six armed men boarded the ship and forced it to change course towards Somalia, maritime security agencies said Thursday.

The Seamull tanker, also known as SIBU 1, issued a distress call as it was approached 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla, Yemen, according to shipping monitor Vanguard.

"The tanker has reportedly been boarded by six armed persons, who are now in control of the vessel and redirecting it towards Somalia," said the EU's Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO).

The United States sanctioned the Seamull tanker in December last year as one of the vessels in Iran's "shadow fleet" accused of exporting Iranian oil using deceptive shipping practices.

It is one of four operated by UAE-based Qatrat Alnada Almasi Ship Management that transported Iranian petroleum products, including naphtha and gas oil, on multiple occasions and made port calls to Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen.

Piracy was rampant off the coast of Somalia in the 2000s and peaked in 2011 before being curbed by international naval deployments and new security measures for commercial shipping.

But attacks have surged again since April, with five cargo ships currently held hostage -- most recently a vessel that was seized near the Somali coast on Monday. — Agence France-Presse