US Navy responds to distress call from Israeli-owned tanker, seizes attackers

A group of armed assailants, suspected to be Houthi rebels, seized an Israeli-owned tanker in the Gulf of Aden, near Yemen on Sunday. 

The ship was identified as the 'Central Park' vessel, flying under the flag of Liberia, and owned by Zodiac Maritime. 

The attackers later released the tanker after U.S. Navy and British warships responded to the distress call. 

Early on Monday morning, the United States Central Command announced it had responded to the seizure and demanded the ship's release.

On Nov. 26, the USS MASON (DDG 87), with allied ships from our coalition counter-piracy task force (TF 151), and associated aircraft responded to a distress call from the M/V CENTRAL PARK, a commercial vessel, that they were under attack by an unknown entity. Upon arrival,… pic.twitter.com/ASmM3b0xrf

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 27, 2023

The group of armed assailants then attempted to escape in a small boat but were apprehended by U.S. forces on board the USS Mason. 

“Upon arrival, coalition elements demanded release of the vessel. Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat. The MASON pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender. The crew of the M/V CENTRAL PARK is currently safe,” read a tweet released by CENTCOM about the incident. 

Several hours after the assailants were captured, a launch involving two ballistic missiles was detected from Houthi-controlled Yemen. The missiles fell short in the Gulf of Aden, about 10 miles away from the USS Mason. 

Zodiac Maritime released a statement on Monday morning thanking the coalition forces for their assistance. 

“We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law,” the company said. 

Zodiac said the ship was carrying phosphoric acid and that the crew – 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam – were unharmed in the incident. 

While Zodiac initially noted suspected piracy, maritime and military officials did not believe the attack was motivated by regular piracy. 

Amber Analytics, a global maritime risk management company, said that evidence suggested the attack was “likely linked to state actors.” 

According to Tradewinds, a shipping news site, the Central Park was threatened by Houthi rebels on Saturday and was instructed by a U.S. naval vessel to ignore any instructions from the Houthi Yemeni Navy. 

The attack comes just a little more than a week after Houthi rebels seized the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea.

Zodiac Maritime is owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer and is based in London.

Vessels from the company have been targeted several times in the past couple of years, including a drone attack on the Mercer Street in 2021 and the Campo Square in February 2023. 

The internationally-recognized Yemeni government, which has been fighting a civil war against the Houthis, released a statement blaming the Houthi rebels directly and did not claim responsibility for either the seizure attempt or the missile launches. 

“The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park,” the statement read.