Armed men hijack oil tanker SIBU 1 off Yemen and divert vessel to Somalia

Boarding in the Gulf of Aden

On 20 August 2026, armed assailants boarded and seized the oil tanker SIBU 1, also known as Seamull, in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported receiving a distress call from the tanker 136 nautical miles (252 kilometres) east of the Yemeni port city of Al Mukalla while it was travelling westwards. Six armed individuals boarded the ship, took control of navigation, and forced the vessel to redirect its course toward Somalia. Colonel Mohamed Jama, a senior security official with the Puntland Maritime Police Force, stated that seven armed pirates boarded the vessel approximately 130 miles off Yemen. The European Union naval mission Atalanta, through the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO), stated that it is monitoring the incident and advised vessels in the area to maintain enhanced vigilance.

Vessel ownership and sanction status

The SIBU 1 sails under an Eritrean flag and had previously departed from Oman. According to tracking data from TankerTrackers.com, the ship is part of an Iranian shadow fleet that exports petroleum products globally and routinely delivers fuel to the Houthi-controlled terminal at Ras Isa in Yemen. In December, the United States imposed sanctions on the vessel under its alternative name Seamull. It is one of four tankers operated by the United Arab Emirates-based firm Qatrat Alnada Almasi Ship Management, which transports Iranian oil products including naphtha and gasoil. Security agencies have not released details regarding the current safety condition or total count of the crew members aboard the tanker.

Recent hijackings and hostage counts

The seizure of SIBU 1 is the second ship hijacking by Somali pirates within a four-day span. On 17 August 2026, armed men seized a Cameroon-flagged cargo vessel carrying weapons off the coast of Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region. Abshir Hashi Ali, director general of the ministry of ports in Galmudug State, stated that Somali pirates currently hold six vessels, including the two seized this week, with more than 100 crew members detained as hostages. Other maritime monitors report that at least five commercial ships remain in pirate custody, including an oil tanker captured in July 26 nautical miles (48 kilometres) off Yemen's Hadramout province.

Ian Ralby, president of the maritime governance group Auxilium Worldwide, assessed the regional maritime context:

The most frequent successful spate of piracy attacks in almost a decade and a half are going virtually unnoticed on account of just how bad the maritime security picture is in the wider region.

Shipping lane pressure and piracy patterns

During the first five months of 2026, the Center for Maritime Security documented more than 17 piracy-related incidents across Somali waters and the Gulf of Aden, which included the hijacking of three commercial ships and five dhow boats. The Gulf of Aden forms the entryway to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, a corridor carrying 12% to 15% of global trade by value and roughly 30% of global container traffic. Western naval assets have redeployed to address conflicts across the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, leaving commercial vessels to pass closer to the Somali coast where pirate gangs have expanded operations since mid-April. Between 2005 and 2012, Somali pirates carried out more than 1,000 attacks that generated approximately $400 million in ransom payments before a multi-nation naval crackdown curtailed hijackings in 2013.