Description: Yemen’s coast guard has reported than an oil tanker called the M/T Eureka has been hijacked by armed militants from Somalia’s coast and was being diverted towards the Gulf of Aden. The attack marks the fourth seizure of an oil tanker in the Horn of Africa after Somali pirates managed to seize the Honor 25 late last month. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, an organization that provides maritime security information, has officially declared the security situation in the region as substantial and cautioned maritime traders of increased hijackings. The four vessels remain somewhere off the Somalian coast with retrieval operations mobilizing.
Impact: The rise in oil tanker seizures is likely due to the volatile security landscape in the region, causing armed groups to escalate attacks exploiting the global energy crisis to fund and expand their areas of operation. Global maritime insurance fees are likely to skyrocket as another key maritime trade route continues to be threatened by constant attacks. The hijackings likely demonstrate the vulnerability of the Red Sea maritime corridor as the current escalation of piracy combined with the activities by Yemen’s Houthis could backstop another global chokepoint for trade and further aggravate the global energy and economic crisis. Potential collusion between the pirates and the Houthis could be fatal for maritime shipping in the Red Sea as global naval security currently focuses on restoring navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.