Middle East Tanker Secured from Attackers Following Swift Response by U.S. Navy, Officials Report
A commercial tanker that had been held over by armed individuals in the Gulf of Aden sent a distress call, and the U.S. Navy warship reacted. According to U.S. officials on Sunday, the tanker is secure.
The company operating the tanker recognized it as the Central Park; it had been transporting phosphoric acid. The perpetrators were not named by the authorities.
The USS Mason, with assistance from friendly ships, asked that the commercial ship be freed from the attackers, according to a statement from the US military.
Five armed men attempted to flee on a speed boat, but the American warship pursued them and they ultimately turned themselves in.
According to the statement, two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen were directed at Mason and Central Park, but they landed roughly 10 nautical miles away from them, causing no harm or casualties.
After a bloody conflict between Israel and the militant Palestinian organization Hamas began on October 7, this event is the most recent in a string of assaults in the Middle Eastern seas.
It came after Iran’s allied Yemeni Houthis seized a cargo ship with ties to Israel last week in the southern Red Sea. Along with firing armed drones and ballistic missiles toward Israel, the group promised to target more Israeli boats.
The Ofer family of Israel owns Zodiac Maritime Ltd., an international ship management firm with its headquarters in London, which is in charge of Central Park, a light chemical tanker weighing 19,998 metric tons. According to LSEG records, the vessel flying the Liberian flag was constructed in 2015 and is owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc.
Central Park, which is transporting phosphoric acid in its entirety, was allegedly involved in a suspected piracy incident while traversing international waters around 54 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, according to a statement released by Zodiac Maritime.
Most commonly, phosphoric acid is employed as a fertilizer.
“Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew onboard. The Turkish captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian, and Filipino nationals,” the statement added.
Officials from the Houthi group did not respond right away.
The UKMTO, the British Maritime Trade Operations agency, warned other vessels to be cautious after announcing on Sunday that it was aware of a potential attack near southwest Aden.
For unreported strikes on multiple vessels in the area over the previous few years, the United States has held Iran accountable. Iran has refuted any connection.
A suspected Iranian drone struck a cargo ship operated by an Israeli-controlled corporation in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, causing minor damage to the ship but no injuries, according to a U.S. defense official.
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