A chemical tanker was seized by attackers off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, adding to the instability of international commerce in the region following Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack against Israel.
While there was no immediate word on who was responsible for the attack, it comes after two major cargo ships connected to Israel have been attacked over the last several days, including one that was seized by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists and another that was attacked by an Iran.
The Associated Press reported the Liberian-flagged Central Park chemical tanker was seized in the Gulf of Aden, according to the company, a private intelligence firm, and a U.S. defense official.
“Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew onboard,” said Zodiac Maritime, the company that manages the vessel. “The Turkish-captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals. The vessel is carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid.”
The company said that it believed that the attack was “a suspected piracy incident.”
Zodiac Maritime, based in the U.K., is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, the AP noted.
The U.S. defense official who spoke to the AP said that a number of “unidentified armed individuals” seized the ship, and U.S. and allied forces in the regions were nearby and monitoring the situation.
The Malta-flagged CMA CGM SYMI cargo ship was targeted on Friday by a triangle-shaped, bomb-carrying Iranian Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drone while in international waters, a senior U.S. defense official told the Associated Press. No casualties were reported but the ship did sustain damage.
The official said the U.S. believes the attack was carried out by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) that is comprised of the hardline faction of Iran’s military.
Last week, Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen seized the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea, which was leased to a Japanese company from a British company that is partially owned by Israeli businessman Rami Ungar.
Numerous heavily armed fighters jumped off a helicopter onto the ship, taking its 25 crew members hostage—none of whom were Israeli citizens.
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