A merchant vessel hijacked in Yemeni waters last week has been moved into Somali waters and is now held by Somali pirates, according to residents of Somalia's Puntland region. The MT Asana, a Tanzanian-flagged tanker, has 19 crew members of various nationalities.
The incident highlights a resurgence in piracy off the coast of Somalia, posing a renewed threat to maritime trade routes in the strategically important Gulf of Aden and waters around the Horn of Africa.
A merchant ship, the MT Asana, that was hijacked in Yemeni waters of the Gulf of Aden last week is now being held by Somali pirates, according to residents of Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region. The Tanzanian-flagged fuel and chemical tanker was boarded by unauthorized personnel before being maneuvered into Somali waters, the UK Maritime Trade Operations confirmed.
The vessel had 19 crew members on board, including 11 Indians, five Syrians, two Yemenis, and an Egyptian, according to a manifest seen by Reuters. A resident of Caluula in Puntland reported seeing pirates transporting food to the hijacked ship.
Somali piracy was rampant between 2008 and 2018, and activity has begun to increase again since late 2023.