The incident involving the Central Park chemical tanker is the latest in a series of attacks on ships in the Middle East, since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas last month.
It also comes on the heels of the Iranian-allied Houthi militia seizing an Israel-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea last week. The Houthi group pledged to target more Israeli ships.
The Houthi militia had also fired ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel.
Reuters quoted the American official as saying, “American and coalition forces are present in a nearby area, and we are closely monitoring the situation.”
LSEG data shows that the small oil tanker Central Park (19,998 tons) is operated by the Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime Limited, an international ship management company based in London.
Reuters reported that the tanker was built in 2015, flies the Liberian flag, and is owned by Klomviz Shipping Company.
Zodiac Maritime Limited said in a statement that the Central Park, which was carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid, was subjected to a suspected piracy incident while sailing in international waters, about 54 nautical miles off Somalia.
Phosphoric acid is often used in the manufacture of fertilizers.
The statement added, “Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew on board the tanker. The ship, led by a Turkish captain, has a multinational crew consisting of Russians, Vietnamese, Bulgarians, Indians, Georgians, and Filipinos.”
There has been no immediate comment yet from the Houthi militia.
The British Maritime Trade Operations Authority said on Sunday that it was aware of a possible attack southwest of Aden, and called on other ships to exercise caution.
#Details #detention #Israeliowned #chemical #tanker #Gulf #Aden