A tanker ship believed to be owned by an Israeli billionaire and flying under the Liberian flag has just been seized after it entered the Red Sea. It was ordered by the Houthis to dock in Yemen and when it refused, it was boarded.
US naval forces are said to be “engaged in the situation”.
Here’s more from Barron’s:
A tanker linked to an Israel-affiliated company was seized off the coast of Yemen on Sunday by unidentified armed individuals, a US defence official confirmed, following a series of incidents on the same shipping route.
“There are indications that an unknown number of unidentified armed individuals seized the M/V Central Park in the Gulf of Aden Nov. 26. US and coalition forces are in the vicinity and we are closely monitoring the situation,” the official told AFP.
The maritime security firm Ambrey said that “US naval forces are engaged in the situation” after the incident involving the Central Park vessel, owned and managed by a UK-based, Israel-linked company.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels had previously threatened to attack the tanker if it did not divert to the port of Hodeida, it said.
Communications from a US coalition warship had been intercepted warning the Central Park to disregard the messages, Ambrey added.
The boarding took place offshore from the Yemeni port city of Aden, with another vessel in the area reporting “an approach by eight persons on two skiffs wearing military uniforms”, Ambrey said.
According to the AP the tanker has a crew of 22 and, like the other ships seized, they are multinational including Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino. It’s captain is Turkish.
As far as who owns the ship, the AP writes: “Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. British corporate records listed two men with the last name Ofer as a current and former director of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime.”