US Navy Puts Kibosh on Latest Tanker Hijacking

5 armed men jumped ship, but didn't get very far; 2 missiles fired in retaliation don't come very close
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 27, 2023 11:26 AM CST
US Navy Rescues Hijacked Tanker
The tanker Central Park. Attackers seized the tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Aden, Yemen, on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, authorities said. While no group immediately claimed responsibility, it comes as at least two other maritime attacks in recent days have been linked to the Israel-Hamas war.   (Zodiac Maritime via AP)

The US Navy responded to Sunday's seizure of an Israeli-linked tanker off the coast of Yemen, and took on some less-than-successful missile fire for its trouble. As the New York Times reports, the destroyer USS Mason and other ships involved in anti-piracy efforts in the region approached the hijacked cargo ship MV Central Park in the Gulf of Aden and demanded that the armed assailants aboard release it. "Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat," Central Command said, per the AP. "The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender."

That earned the US rescuers two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen then landed near the Mason—but not too near. "The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles from the ships," said the CentCom statement. "The USS Mason ... was concluding its response to the M/V Central Park distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident." Early Monday, Zodiac said the vessel carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors were unharmed. "We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law," said Zodiac Maritime, the vessel's Israeli-linked owner.

Yemen's internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement carried by their state-run news agency. "The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park," the statement read. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier issued a warning to sailors that "two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing" had been seen in the area. The UKMTO put the Central Park's location over 35 miles south of Yemen's coast, some 50 miles east of Djibouti and around 70 miles northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)

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