Attackers seized an Israeli-linked tanker with Bulgarians on board off the coast of Aden, Yemen.
No group has yet claimed responsibility, but the attack follows two other naval attacks in recent days linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.
As BGNES first reported, a tanker linked to an Israeli company was seized earlier today off the coast of Yemen, maritime security firm Ambrey said on Sunday, following a series of similar incidents on the same shipping route.
The attackers captured the Liberian-flagged ship Central Park in the Gulf of Aden, owner company Zodiac Maritime and private intelligence firm Ambrey said.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen had previously threatened to attack the tanker if it did not divert to the port of Hodeidah, the statement said.
The company called the seizure of the vessel a "piracy incident". "Our priority is the safety of our crew of 22 on board," Zodiac said in a statement. "The ship with a Turkish captain has a multinational crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino citizens. The ship is carrying phosphoric acid," the company said.
Ambrey said "the US Navy is engaged in the situation" after the "Central Park incident," owned and operated by a UK-based company with ties to Israel.
On Friday, an Israeli-owned cargo ship was damaged in a suspected Iranian drone strike in the Indian Ocean. This happened a week after the Houthis captured a cargo ship linked to Israel in the southern part of the Red Sea. The captain and his first mate are Bulgarian citizens, and his crew includes Ukrainians, Romanians, Mexicans and Filipinos. Since there is not a single Israeli in it, the Houthis have announced that they will treat the abducted foreigners as guests, according to the norms of Islam.
The Houthis, who declare themselves part of the "axis of resistance" linked to Iran, have launched a series of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel since an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7./BGNES
