Somali Pirates Hijack Eritrean-Flagged SIBU 1 Oil Tanker Off Yemen, Steer Toward Puntland: 17 outlets compared
SIBU 1 seized off Yemen
The official told The Associated Press that six armed pirates seized the M.T. Sibu 1 on Thursday about 252 km east of Al-Mukalla, Yemen, and took it toward the Puntland coast.
The tanker carried 20 crew members, including 16 Indians, one Syrian, one Sudanese, and one Iraqi, while the nationality of one crew member was unclear.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the tanker last year, alleging it was part of Iran’s “shadow fleet” used to transport petroleum products in violation of U.S. sanctions.
The hijacking came three days after pirates took control of the Cameroon-flagged cargo vessel Lutuf off Somalia, as the International Maritime Bureau recorded 38 piracy and armed robbery incidents worldwide during the first half of 2026.
Piracy wave and expert framing
Sky News Arabia said the latest attacks saw pirates seize the MT Cebo 1, an Eritrean-flagged tanker, roughly 136 nautical miles east of the Yemeni city of al-Mukalla, and force it toward the Puntland coast.
The outlet also described a rapid resurgence, saying that within four months pirates seized six commercial ships, including three hijacked off Yemen, and that Somali pirates were responsible for 94 percent of sailors held hostage globally during the first half of 2026.
American security expert Ian Ralby, director of the Omward World Wide Institute, told Sky News Arabia: “Piracy begins on land before symptoms appear at sea,” linking the return to motives, networks, and capabilities rather than maritime tightening alone.
Ralby said the arrest and prosecution of 35 pirates in India in 2024 helped reduce activity by changing the ground calculus for groups, not just keeping them away from ships, and he added that the current situation appears more complex.
The Egyptian Merchant Marine Officers’ Union head Captain Al-Sayed Al-Shehly told Sky News Arabia that weak coastal oversight and the absence of a capable authority allow small groups to turn into maritime gangs seeking money.
Sanctions, hostages, and risk
The same account said the Sibu 1 was at least the thirteenth vessel attacked this year off the coast of Somalia or in the Gulf of Aden, and it contrasted 2025’s record of only five attacks of this type with the renewed surge.
Regeneración reported that Abshir Hashi Ali said there are more than one hundred crew members held as hostages, while also stating that “Six ships are being held by Somali pirates“.
The Estrella Digital report said the hijacking raised to six the number of ships detained in the area under the responsibility of Operation Atalanta, and it noted that the incident occurred 136 nautical miles, about 252 kilometers, east of Al Mukalla.
It also said Atalanta and the Combined Maritime Forces later confirmed that eight armed men used two skiffs to board LUTUF, and that the SIBU 1 seizure came only three days after that August 17 attack.