UK maritime agency reports incident near Yemeni island of Socotra

Published May 23, 2026 Updated May 23, 2026 10:45am

The UK Maritime Trade Operations has said it received a report of an incident 200 nautical miles (370km) west of Yemen’s Socotra island, where a tanker carrying petroleum products said it was approached by a small craft with five people on board, Al Jazeera reports.

The craft reportedly came as close as 100 metres (328ft) from the tanker before altering course after the tanker’s armed security team were deployed, according to the UKMTO.

A similar incident north of Socotra was reported yesterday, Al Jazeera noted.

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