DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Armed attackers seized an Israeli-bound tanker and abandoned it off the coast of Yemen on Sunday before being captured by the U.S. Navy, officials said. Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen landed near a US warship assisting a tanker in the Gulf of Aden, raising risks amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government blamed Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the attack, but rebels in control of the capital Sanaa denied either the capture or the missile attack.
The attackers took over the Liberian-flagged Central Park run by Zodiac Maritime in the Gulf of Aden, the company, the US and British militaries and private intelligence firm Ambrey said.
The US military’s Central Command said in a statement early Monday that its forces and allies, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, responded to the seizure and demanded that the armed attackers release the tanker.
“The five armed men then got off the ship and tried to escape with their small boats,” the Central Command said. “Mason pursued the attackers and they eventually surrendered.”
Central Command did not identify the attackers but said a missile was launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen in the early hours of Monday morning.
“The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) away from the ships,” the statement said. “USS Mason… was completing its response to the M/V Central Park distress call when the missile was launched. “No damage or injuries were reported to either vessel during this incident.”
Early Monday morning, Zodiac said the ship carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam were unharmed.
“We thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protected assets in the region and upheld international maritime law,” the company said.
Although Zodiac stated that the ship was owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., other records show Zodiac as the direct owner of the ship. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. British corporate records list two men with the surname Ofer as current and former directors of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government near Aden blamed rebels for the takeover in a statement carried by the state-run news agency.
“The Yemeni government reiterated its condemnation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militia with the support of the Iranian regime, including the most recent Central Park hijacking,” the statement said. The statement was included.
The attack took place in a part of the Gulf of Aden that is theoretically under the control of government forces and is well away from Houthi-controlled areas of the country. Somali pirates are not known to operate in this region.
Zodiac Maritime has previously been targeted amid a broader years-long shadow war between Iran and Israel. In 2021, two crew members aboard Zodiac’s oil tanker Mercer Street were killed off the coast of Oman in a drone strike assessed by the United States and other Western countries to have been carried out by Iran.
The British army’s UK Maritime Trade Operations, which issued warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had previously warned sailors that “two black-and-white boats carrying eight people in military uniforms” were seen in the region. .
UKMTO identified the location of Central Park as 60 kilometers (35 mi) south of the coast of Yemen, about 80 kilometers (50 mi) east of Djibouti, and about 110 kilometers (70 mi) northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a major shipping route . .
The Central Park seizure comes after the container ship CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, was attacked by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean on Friday. Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack and did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about the attack.
Both Symi and Central Park had been acting like they were facing a threat lately.
Ships had turned off their Automatic Identification System trackers, according to MarineTraffic.com data analyzed by the AP. Ships are required to keep their AIS active for security reasons, but crews will turn them off if they think they might be targeted. In the Central Park case, the ship last transmitted four days ago after leaving the Suez Canal and heading south toward the Red Sea.
Although a ceasefire halted hostilities and Hamas exchanged hostages with Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, global shipping was increasingly targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatened to escalate into a broader regional conflict.
In early November, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship bound for Israel in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. Rebels still hold the ship off the coast of the port city of Hodeida.
However, the fact that the Houthis have not directly targeted Americans for some time has further increased the risks in the growing naval conflict. In 2016, the United States launched Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory in retaliation for missiles fired at U.S. Navy ships, including the USS Mason at the time.
Meanwhile, the US military said that the American aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower passed through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf on Sunday. Eisenhower was accompanied by the guided missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, guided missile destroyers USS Gravely and USS Stethem, and the French frigate Languedoc.
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Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.