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Yemen's coast guard said Saturday that the oil tanker M/T Eureka had been hijacked off the coast of Shabwa province by unidentified armed men who boarded the vessel, seized control and steered it toward the Gulf of Aden in the direction of Somali waters.
The coast guard said the tanker's location had been identified and that efforts were underway to track it, take necessary measures to recover it and ensure the safety of its crew.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) recently reported suspicious activity 84 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Mukalla, noting that a bulk carrier reported a small boat and a fishing vessel coming within 500 meters of it.
It remains unclear whether the UKMTO report is connected to the Yemen coast guard's statement.
Somali pirates have hijacked an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, according to multiple Somali security officials who spoke with the BBC.
The Yemeni coastguard earlier said the tanker MT Eureka had been hijacked and was headed towards Somalia. Sources said it was overrun by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, near the port of Qana.
The pirates departed a remote coastal area near the seaside town of Qandala, which sits on the Gulf of Aden, according to three separate security officials from the Puntland region who spoke with the BBC.
It marks the second hijacking of an oil tanker in the area in a 10-day period, following the hijacking of Honor 25 by Somali pirates on April 22. Honor 25 was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil bound for Mogadishu.
MT Eureka was sailing on the flag of the West African nation of Togo prior to the hijacking and was overrun by the gunmen at 5:00 AM local time, the security official told the BBC.
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