What happened

UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a tanker transiting westbound in the Gulf of Aden, about 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla, Yemen, broadcast a distress call on VHF channel 16 after being approached by an unauthorised vessel; six armed people subsequently boarded and took control of the ship, redirecting it toward Somalia. UKMTO confirmed the boarding and said authorities were investigating, but gave no further details on the crew's safety or the vessel's condition. Monitoring outlets identified the vessel as the tanker Seamull, also referred to as SIBU 1. Just Security, summarising New York Times reporting, described it as a suspected Iranian shadow-fleet tanker; that characterisation is not independently established in the UKMTO advisory and is retained as reported context rather than confirmed ownership or trading status. Al Jazeera reported the hijacking as part of a wider resurgence of Somali piracy in 2026, noting that at least five ships remained under pirate control at the time, with the most recent prior hijacking the preceding Monday, and linked the trend to naval forces being stretched thin by the concurrent Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz conflicts, pushing more shipping traffic closer to Somali waters. This is a distinct incident from the 17 July 2026 UKMTO 090-26 hijack recorded separately on this map, which involved a different tanker boarded roughly 65 nautical miles south (not east) of Al Mukalla.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.