On Sunday, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason acquired a misery name from the M/V Central Park, a 20,000 DWT oil/chemical tanker, within the Gulf of Aden, that reported they have been beneath assault by an unknown entity. 5 armed people had boarded the tanker. The tanker’s crew barricaded themselves within the tanker’s citadel, an armored panic room.
When the USS Mason and different coalition vessels arrived on the Central Parokay, they demanded the discharge of the ship. 5 gunmen tried to flee from the tanker in a skiff. The crew of Mason pursued the skiff because it headed towards Yemen with the ship’s embarked helicopter and in the end compelled the 5 to give up. They have been detained for questioning.
The US Central Command additionally reported that two ballistic missiles have been fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen towards the final location of the USS Mason and M/V Central Park. The missiles landed within the Gulf of Aden roughly ten nautical miles from the ships. There was no injury or reported accidents from both vessel throughout this incident.
Central Park, which was loaded with a cargo of phosphoric acid on the time of the tried hijacking, is managed by Zodiac Maritime Ltd, a London-headquartered worldwide ship administration firm owned by Israel’s Ofer household. The Liberian-flagged vessel was in-built 2015 and is owned by Clumvez Delivery Inc, LSEG knowledge confirmed.
Ofer’s firm owned M/V Mercer Road, a Liberian-flagged tanker that was attacked by a drone in 2021 off the coast of Oman. Two crew members have been killed in that assault.
Voice of America stories that the tried hijacking of the Central Park seems to have been carried out by armed Somali pirates and never Yemeni Houthis, regardless of the firing of missiles from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen afterward, the Pentagon stated Monday.
“We’re persevering with to evaluate, however preliminary indications are that these 5 people are Somali,” stated Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier Basic Patrick Ryder. “Clearly a piracy-related incident,” Ryder added.
