ALABWABA - Pirates, believed to be Somali, hijacked a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, off the eastern coast of Yemen, on Thursday and began steering it toward the Somali coast, according to two sources in the Yemeni Coast Guard.
Sources announced to the media that the Coast Guard received a distress call from a ship sailing approximately 135 nautical miles east of the port of Mukalla in Hadramawt Governorate when it was intercepted by a boat carrying several armed men.
The two sources further mentioned that the gunmen boarded the ship and seized control of it before ordering its captain to change course towards the Somali coast.
One of the sources stated that approximately seven gunmen boarded the vessel. The Yemeni side contacted the international forces responsible for protecting maritime navigation in the Gulf of Aden to discuss the possibility of intervention and monitoring the ship, given that the Yemeni coast guard lacks the necessary capabilities to conduct operations on the high seas.
Reports also indicated that some commercial vessels had previously ignored security warnings about the need to take extra protective measures, including having armed guards on board, to counter any danger.
According to the sources, the method used in the operation closely resembled the hijacking of the MT Asana last July, when armed men seized the vessel off the Yemeni coast and steered it toward Somali waters.
