Yellow in the open sea. An oil tanker linked to an Israeli-linked company was attacked by an armed commando off the coast of Yemen. The ship’s boarding was just the latest in a series of incidents on the same sea route, maritime security firm Ambrey said. Ambrey said after the incident involving the Central Park ship, owned and operated by an Israeli-linked company based in Britain, that “US naval forces are involved in the situation.” Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels had previously threatened to attack the tanker if it was not diverted to the port of Hodeida. Communications from a U.S. coalition warship were intercepted and warned Central Park to ignore the messages, the maritime intelligence firm added.
The boarding occurred off the Yemeni port city of Aden, with another ship in the area reporting “an approach of eight people in two boats wearing military uniforms,” Ambrey said. The seizure came after a U.S. defense official said Friday that an Israeli merchant ship was damaged in a suspected Iranian drone strike in the Indian Ocean, and a week after the Houthis seized an Israeli-linked merchant vessel in the southern Red Sea. The Houthis, who describe themselves as part of the “Axis of Resistance” of Iran-aligned groups, have launched a series of drone and rocket attacks against Israel since October, after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel and the Jewish state launched a retaliatory offensive on the Strip.
“The United States and coalition forces are nearby and we are closely monitoring the situation,” a U.S. defense official said of the seizure of the Israeli tanker off the coast of Aden, Yemen. According to the official, “an unknown number of unidentified armed individuals” seized the vessel. Zodiac Maritime, operator of the tanker Central Park, said it could be an “act of piracy.” “Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew members on board,” Zodiac said in a statement. “The ship, commanded by Turkey, has a multinational crew consisting of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino citizens. The ship is carrying a full load of phosphoric acid,” added the company, part of the Zodiac Group. Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.
The Zodiac Maritime company has previously been targeted in connection with a broader “shadow war” between Iran and Israel. In 2021, a drone strike classified by the United States and other Western nations as carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard the Zodiac oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman.