Somali pirates have seized a small product tanker off Yemen, in the latest incident pointing to a renewed threat in one of the world’s most sensitive shipping corridors.

Officials reported that the 3,300 dwt Eureka was boarded by armed men on Saturday off Yemen’s Shabwa coast. The attackers took control of the vessel and redirected it toward Somali waters across the Gulf of Aden.

Authorities indicated the Togo-flagged ship had been located and was being tracked, with efforts underway to regain control and ensure the safety of those onboard. The 2006-built vessel is owned by UAE-based Royal Shipping Lines.

The hijacking followed a series of recent security incidents in the same area. Earlier this month, the Liberian-flagged bulker New Venture was pursued by a skiff carrying seven armed individuals, including weapons such as an RPG, around 92 nautical miles southwest of Mukalla, within the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). A further suspicious approach was reported when a bulker was approached roughly 84 nautical miles off Al Mukalla.

The incidents come against a backdrop of rising piracy activity linked to Somalia. Two vessels were hijacked in late April — the tanker Honour 25 and the general cargo vessel Sward — with monitoring efforts ongoing.

Security agencies have already reacted. The Joint Maritime Information Center raised the piracy threat level for the Somali coast and wider basin to “severe” at the end of April, just days after upgrading it to “substantial”.

The attack on the Eureka took place along the Gulf of Aden route linking the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean — a key artery for global trade that is already under strain from regional tensions and security risks.

Somali piracy, which peaked more than a decade ago, had largely been contained through coordinated naval operations and improved shipboard security. However, analysts have linked the uptick in activity to reduced naval patrol coverage and shifting security priorities in nearby conflict zones, creating space for pirate groups to operate again.