Five pirates who attempted to hijack a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden are in US Navy custody, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Sunday (26).
The five attacked the tanker Central Park, owned by an Israeli businessman, on Sunday and tried to take control of it as the ship transited the Gulf of Aden.
Before the pirates could take control of the ship, the crew sought shelter in a shielded panic room. Unable to capture the crew, the pirates boarded a boat and headed towards Yemen. The destroyer USS Mason (DDG87) and an unidentified Japan Maritime SelfDefense Force (JMSDF) ship responded to the incident. The crew of the USS Mason launched their MH60R Seahawk helicopter to track the boat as it headed to Yemen and detained the five for questioning.
“U.S. and coalition forces responded to a distress call from the merchant vessel Central Park and its crew is currently safe,” said the statement from the office of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on Sunday
The Central Park is a Liberianflagged Zodiac Maritime tanker owned by Israeli tycoon Eyal Ofer. Ofer’s company included the merchant Mercer Street, a Liberianflagged tanker that was attacked by a drone off the coast of Oman in 2021, with two crew members killed in the attack.
Following the arrests, Houthi forces fired two shortrange ballistic missiles at the USS Mason.
Sunday’s incident came after two days of a suspected drone attack on an Israeli container ship in the Indian Ocean on Friday (24).
Meanwhile, the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG116) shot down multiple drones Thursday morning, following an incident earlier this month in which the destroyer shot down a Yemeni drone over the Red Sea.
The incidents coincided with ongoing attacks by Israel in retaliation for the October 7 attacks by the terrorist group Hamas that killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel.
Since then, U.S. naval forces have focused on the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean in the weeks following the attacks in southern Israel and the subsequent response. Last week, the USS Gerald R. Ford CSG deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean, while the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CSG entered the Persian Gulf on Sunday.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN69) transited the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, CENTCOMT announced. This is the first time a US aircraft carrier has sailed in the Persian Gulf since USS Nimitz (CVN68) operated there in late 2020.
SOURCE: USN/CENTCOM