Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Egypt has launched urgent diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Egyptian seafarers aboard an oil tanker hijacked near Somalia after armed men seized the vessel and diverted it toward Puntland waters in one of the latest piracy incidents rattling the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea shipping corridor.
In a statement Monday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said it is closely monitoring the situation involving the tanker M/T Eureka, which was taken into Somali territorial waters with Egyptian crew members still on board.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty ordered Egypt’s embassy in Mogadishu to intensify coordination with Somali authorities and follow the condition of the crew around the clock while working to secure their release “as quickly as possible.”
The ministry said Cairo is engaged in high-level communications aimed at guaranteeing the safety of the seafarers amid growing fears for their fate after negotiations reportedly stalled between the hijackers and the vessel’s operating company.
The hijacking unfolded in the early hours of May 2 off the coast of Yemen’s Shabwa province, when armed men believed to be pirates originating from Somalia’s Puntland region stormed the Togolese-flagged tanker and took control of it before redirecting the ship across the Gulf of Aden toward the Somali coastline.
The vessel was transporting nearly 2,800 tons of diesel fuel and carrying a crew of 12 sailors, including Egyptians and Indians. At least eight of the crew members are believed to be Egyptian nationals.
Security tracking later identified the tanker near eastern Somalia in waters linked to the Puntland region, with reports placing it near Bosaso, Eyl, or Qandala.
The incident has triggered mounting anxiety among the families of the crew, who issued urgent appeals for intervention as uncertainty surrounding negotiations deepened. Relatives of the seafarers said talks between the hijackers and the owning company had effectively collapsed after the company allegedly refused to pay a ransom demand.
The brother of one Egyptian sailor warned that communication had become increasingly limited, intensifying fears that the standoff could drag on.
The attack marks the fourth reported hijacking incident in the region within just two weeks, raising alarms over a sharp resurgence in Somali piracy after years of relative decline.
International maritime security observers have increasingly warned that instability across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, combined with ongoing regional conflict, is creating conditions for pirate networks to re-emerge along one of the world’s most strategic shipping lanes.
Some security assessments have also pointed to possible operational links between Somali pirate groups and armed factions operating from Yemen, further complicating efforts to contain the growing threat to commercial navigation in the region.
