UK maritime agency warns Gulf skiffs

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on May 23 it had received reports from various sources of suspicious activity in the Gulf of Aden, adding to a string of recent alerts along one of the main approaches to the Red Sea. The agency said multiple commercial vessels had been approached by skiffs and that one large skiff with two outboard engines had been seen carrying ladders and weapons. The warning was issued as merchant shipping continues to move through the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandeb under layered security guidance from regional navies, private guards and maritime agencies. U.S. maritime authorities said in an April advisory that the wider Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden corridor still carried risks from missile, drone, small-boat and boarding threats. ### Where did this alert come from? UKMTO said on May 23 that it had received “multiple reports” of vessels being approached by skiffs in the Gulf of Aden. The agency’s short notice did not identify the ships involved, but it said the reports came from “various sources,” a phrase the center uses when it is circulating unverified but operationally relevant warnings to merchant traffic. (english.alarabiya.net) The Gulf of Aden sits between Yemen and the Horn of Africa and feeds directly into the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the choke point connecting the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea. That route matters because ships using the Suez Canal from Asia to Europe or the Mediterranean typically pass through it unless they reroute around southern Africa. (english.alarabiya.net) ### What exactly did mariners report seeing? UKMTO said a large skiff with two outboard engines had been observed carrying both ladders and weapons. In maritime security reporting, ladders are a notable detail because boarding equipment can indicate attempted piracy or armed robbery rather than ordinary fishing or local traffic. That inference is based on the equipment described by UKMTO, which did not itself assign a motive in the May 23 notice. (maritime.dot.gov) UKMTO’s incident log shows two closely timed cases near Socotra. On May 22, the master of a products tanker reported that a small craft with five people on board approached to within 100 meters about 200 nautical miles west of Socotra, and the vessel’s armed security team was deployed before the craft altered course away. On May 21, the company security officer of a tanker reported a small craft with five people on board about 98 nautical miles north of Socotra, and the vessel’s armed security team fired warning shots before the craft changed course. (english.alarabiya.net) ### Why does the Socotra area keep appearing in these notices? UKMTO placed one of the incidents within the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor, or IRTC, west of Socotra. The IRTC is a recognized route used by merchant vessels transiting the area because it concentrates traffic and security monitoring in a corridor that has long been associated with piracy risk off Somalia and Yemen. Socotra lies near the entrance to the Gulf of Aden from the Arabian Sea, making the surrounding waters a natural funnel for ships heading toward the Bab al-Mandeb and Red Sea. (ukmto.org) Activity there can draw immediate attention from ship operators because it affects vessels before they reach the narrowest part of the route. ### How does this fit into the wider threat picture? The U.S. Maritime Administration said in Advisory 2026-006 that, although the Houthis had not attacked commercial ships since the October 2025 Israel-Gaza ceasefire agreement, they continued to pose a threat to U.S. assets and commercial vessels in the region. (ukmto.org) MARAD said potential hostile actions in the corridor included UAV attacks, missile strikes, small-arms fire from small boats, explosive boat attacks and illegal boardings or seizures. UKMTO’s own running tally for the period from Feb. 28 to May 22 listed 49 reports affecting vessels in and around the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, including 20 suspicious-activity cases and two hijacks. Those totals cover a broader geography than the Gulf of Aden, but they show the level of reporting now being handled by the center across nearby shipping lanes. ### What should ship operators watch next? (maritime.dot.gov) UKMTO said vessels should transit with caution and report any suspicious activity while authorities investigate the latest incidents. The agency’s recent-incidents page was carrying both the May 21 and May 22 reports as of May 24, and that page is where follow-up notices or reclassifications would typically appear first. (ukmto.org)