Tanker MT Sibu 1 Seized in Gulf of Aden With 16 Indian Crew on Board

Armed pirates hijacked the Eritrea-flagged oil tanker MT Sibu 1 on 20 August in the Gulf of Aden, roughly 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen. Sixteen Indian nationals were among the 20 crew taken. They joined one Syrian, one Sudanese, and one Iraqi seafarer; the nationality of a twentieth crew member had not been confirmed at the time of initial reports. Indian authorities said all Indian crew were safe.

A senior Indian shipping ministry official confirmed both the hijacking and the crew status. The attack came three days after the Cameroon-flagged cargo vessel LUTUF was seized by eight armed pirates off Puntland, Somalia, in which six of ten crew were also Indian nationals. A regional drone strike killed four suspected pirates near the Puntland coast the following day as a multi-nation task force response took shape.

MT Sibu 1 is an oil products tanker. No details on cargo or operator had been released publicly at the time of writing. Busy. The Gulf of Aden links the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and handles heavy international shipping traffic, making it a recurring zone for piracy.