RIYADH: Unidentified armed individuals have seized a tanker carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, the vessel’s managing company and a US defence official said.

The incident, involving the chemical tanker Central Park, is the latest in a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since a brutal Israeli ag­gression against Gazans since Oct 7.

It followed a seizure of an Israeli-linked cargo ship by Houthis in the southern Red Sea last week. The group, which also fired ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel, vowed to target more Israeli vessels.

“US and coalition forces are in the vicinity and we are closely monitoring the situation,” the US official said.

Central Park, a small chemical tanker (19,998 metric tons), is managed by Zodiac Maritime Ltd, a London-headquartered international ship management company owned by Israel’s Ofer family. The Liberian-flagged vessel was built in 2015 and is owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc, LSEG data showed.

Zodiac Maritime said in a statement Central Park, which is carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid, was involved in a suspected piracy incident while crossing international waters, approximately 54 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. Phosphoric acid is mostly used for fertilisers.

“Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew onboard. The Turkish captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals,” the statement added. There was no immediate comment from Houthi officials.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2023