Oil tanker crew held hostage off Somalia: security officials

Somali pirates who seized the chemical tanker M/T Asana in the Gulf of Aden are holding the vessel and its crew hostage at anchorage in Somalia, security officials said Monday.

The Tanzanian-flagged ship, hijacked on July 16, is located near the northeastern fishing town of Jifle, two local security officials from the semi-autonomous Puntland region told AFP on condition of anonymity.

There are conflicting reports on the number of crew and their nationalities.

AFP reported that most of its 19-man crew are Indian, with the others being Syrian, Yemeni and Egyptian.

A Somalia ⁠resident who spoke to Reuters and described himself as ​a "former pirate" said there were 20 crew ​members on board the MT Asana, including eight from Germany and 10 from the Philippines.

Germany's foreign ministry said it did ​not comment on abductions of German nationals overseas ​as a matter of principle.

A resident of Caluula in ‌Puntland ⁠saw pirates transporting food to the hijacked ship.

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said last week that a vessel boarded by unauthorised personnel in the Gulf of ​Aden had ​been manoeuvred ⁠into Somali waters, classifying it as a "hijack".

Somali pirates caused havoc in the ​waters off the Horn of Africa nation's ​long ⁠coastline between 2008 and 2018. After a lull, pirate activity started to pick up again in late 2023.

Another hijacked vessel, the Syrian-flagged M/V Sward that was seized on April 26, is already also anchored off Jifle, they said.

They added that they believed the pirates intended to steer the M/V Asana further south, towards the Mudug region, also in Puntland.

"All seven of them (the pirates) are from the areas around Garacad and it's where they have the most support and sympathy. That's why they’re continuing to go south and will likely go back to their clan stronghold," said one of the officials.

Two oil tankers that were captured by Somali pirates in mid-April and in May, M/T Honour 25 and Eureka, were being held, with their crews, 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Jifle, they said.

After piracy reached a peak in 2011, interceptions of vessels off Somalia plummeted but Somali pirates have since April turned their attention to the Gulf of Aden, off Yemen.