EXCLUSIVE: Iranian ship with Pakistani Sailors Seized by Yemen off Socotra

 by Venatrix Fulmen

(ecop-marine)   An Iranian ship has been seized in the Gulf of Aden off the Socotra archipelago, south Yemen, for illegal entrance into the territorial waters of the country, security sources said on Sunday. 
Yemen sees disputed Socotra as its territory and part of the South Yemen province of Hadramout. The ship had entered what the Yemen Defence Forces call their coastal and territorial waters off the island of Socotra, which is closer to Somalia than to Yemen, is on the continental shelf of Africa and not the Arab peninsula, but has a wild history. Socotra was named a World Heritage Site, but is eyed by several powers for the establishment of a naval base, which certainly would endanger the ecological jewel at the very tip of the Horn of Africa..

The Yemen defence ministry’s 26sep.net news-website reported the incident on Monday, stated that the vessel had entered Yemeni waters illegally and that the Coastguard in eastern Yemen had subsequently arrested the vessel and crew.

The ship was, however, seized off Hadramout in cooperation with non-specified international anti-piracy forces operating from the US-French military basis in Djibouti. While also the Yemeni Interior Ministry confirmed the ship had entered Yemeni waters illegally, it is not clear yet which foreign naval forces had permission to enter Yemeni waters – a permission, which is not permanently given to foreign navies.
Security sources in Socotra confirmed that Yemeni fishermen in South-Hodaibo island in the Socotra Archipelago had found and observed the ship and informed the authorities, whose alerted marines arrested the vessel with its 16-member crew. The captain of the ship, who also claims to be the owner, is an Iranian national while all other 15 members of the crew are Pakistani nationals, according to Socotra security. 

While the crew is being investigated, the authorities do not rule out that the ship was smuggling drugs into Yemen.

The ship will therefore be further searched to determine if it is involved in drug trafficking or other activities.

Convicted drug traffickers risk the death penalty in impoverished Yemen.

Late last year, the security authorities had reported they seized an Iranian ship carrying weapons to rebels in Sa’ada, northern Yemen, but Iran disputed the allegation.

Just recently MV RIM a North-Korea-flagged vessel with Libyan history and at present Syrian ownership was captured by Somalis while near to reach Yemen. The vessel then was commandeered to the Somali Indian Ocean coast, where it is watched by a warship while negotiations for the release are ongoing between the owner and Somali sea-shifta.