A tanker belonging to the company of an Israeli businessman was seized off the coast of Yemen. The ship's crew are citizens of seven countries, including Russia

In the Gulf of Aden, unknown persons seized a tanker from Zodiac Maritime, which is part of the Zodiac Group of Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer, the Associated Press and The Times of Israel report.

A US Department of Defense spokesman confirmed to AP that the US military in the region is aware of what happened and is monitoring the situation. At the same time, private security company Ambrey said the US Navy "has asked vessels to stay away from the area."

However, it is still unclear who exactly captured the ship, since none of the groups has claimed responsibility.

Zodiac does not rule out that what happened could be a case of piracy. The company also emphasized that the priority now is the safety of the tanker’s crew, which consists of citizens of Turkey, Russia, Vietnam, Bulgaria, India, Georgia and the Philippines.

The AP notes that ships linked to Israel have already been attacked twice in November. Earlier, the Yemeni group Ansar Allah stated that it would attack any ships owned by Israeli companies. On November 19, it became known that the Israeli cargo ship Galaxy Leader had been hijacked. On November 25, the AP reported , citing a US Department of Defense source, that another Israeli-linked ship was attacked by a drone.