The ships had switched off their Automatic Identification System trackers, according to data from analyzed by the AP.

Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, nor did it respond to questions from The Associated Press about that assault.īoth the Symi and the Central Park had been behaving as if they faced a threat in recent days. The Central Park seizure comes after a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack Friday by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. The UKMTO put the Central Park's location over 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Yemen's coast, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Djibouti and around 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route. 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. and other Western nations to have been carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard Zodiac's oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman. In 2021, a drone attack assessed by the U.S. Zodiac Maritime has been targeted previously amid a wider yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel. Somali pirates are not known to operate in that area. The attack happened in a part of the Gulf of Aden that is in theory under the control of that government's forces and is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory in the country. '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. 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. British corporate records listed two men with the last name Ofer as a current and former director of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group. Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner. 'We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law,' the company said. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident.'Įarly Monday morning, Zodiac said the vessel carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam were unharmed. was concluding its response to the M/V Central Park distress call at the time of the missile launches.

'The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from the ships,' the statement said. The Central Command did not identify the attackers, but said a missile launch from Houthi-controlled Yemen followed early Monday morning. 'The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.' 'Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat,' Central Command said. military's Central Command said in a statement early Monday that its forces and allies, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, responded to the seizure and demanded the armed assailants release the tanker.

and British militaries and private intelligence firm Ambrey said. The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, the company, the U.S.

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