Bulk Carrier Reportedly Boarded in Indian Ocean

Update: Suspected Hijacking in Indian Ocean May Mark Return of Somali Piracy

DUBAI, Dec 14 (Reuters) – A Malta-flagged, Bulgarian-owned bulk carrier was reportedly boarded on Thursday after being involved in an incident in the Arabian Sea off Yemen’s Socotra Island, British maritime security company Ambrey said in an advisory note.

An Iranian-flagged fishing vessel in the area had switched off its AIS transponder six hours before the incident close to where the bulk carrier appeared to come adrift, Ambrey said.

“The Iran-flagged fishing vessel had previously been operating offshore Somalia,” Ambrey added. 

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency also sent an advisory saying it had received a report of a distress call from a vessel being boarded by unknown persons east of Bossaso, Somalia. UKMTO map located the incident near the Arabian Sea off Yemen’s Socotra Island, as the map showed.

UKMTO WARNING 008/DEC/2023 – UPDATE 001

BOARDING

Warnings – 2023 (https://t.co/5An1YH0JyE)#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/qlNeTmQxLJ

— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) December 14, 2023

The UKMTO and Ambrey had sent advisory notes earlier saying they were investigating reports of an incident involving a vessel sailing in seas off Yemen. The incident was later reported as an unsuccessful missile attack on a Maersk containership. The ship was not damaged in the incident and no injuries.

(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Alex Richardson and Mark Heinrich)

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