US Navy 'engaged' after UK-owned tanker seized off the coast of Yemen

The vessel has been seized near Yemen

The US Navy is “engaged” in a developing situation after A UK-owned tanker was seized off the coast of Yemen.

The Israel-link ship was boarded by an unknown source, private security firm Ambrey announced.

Ambrey said that the “US naval forces are engaged in the situation” involving the Central Park vessel.

Communications from a US coalition warship had been intercepted warning the Central Park to disregard the messages, Ambrey added.

The boarding took place offshore from the Yemeni port city of Aden, with another vessel in the area reporting “an approach by eight persons on two skiffs wearing military uniforms”, Ambrey said.

It is not immediately clear who is behind the attack.

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.

It issued another warning saying that radio traffic suggested a possible attack had occurred.

Aden is held by forces allied to Yemen’s internationally recognized government and a Saudi-led coalition that has battled Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for years.

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.

It issued another warning saying that radio traffic suggested a possible attack had occurred.

On Friday, a container ship owned by an Israeli billionaire came under attack by a Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean.

The assault on the CMA CGM Symi came as global shipping increasingly finds itself targeted in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Private intelligence firm Ambrey, said: “The attack is likely to have been targeted, due to the vessel’s Israeli affiliation through Eastern Pacific Shipping.

“The vessel’s AIS transmissions were off days prior to the event, indicating this alone does not prevent an attack.”

These attack have intensified since the start of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas following a terrorist attack carried out on October 7.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq also have launched attacks on American troops in both Iraq and Syria during the war.