What Mattered This Week

INDIA — The Indian Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Sri Vijaya Puram received information at 6:18 a.m. UTC on August 22 that communication had been lost with the Panama-flagged bulk carrier MV Ocean Winner, IMO 9145530, and that the vessel sank in the Bay of Bengal.

Commandant Amit Uniyal, an Indian Coast Guard spokesperson, stated the ship carried 24 crew members consisting of 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi national, plus a cargo of iron ore.

TOKYO — On August 20, following North Korea’s ballistic missile launch, Deputy Director-General Ariyoshi of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a trilateral phone meeting with Baek Yong-jin, Director-General for Korean Peninsula Policy at South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, and David Wilezol, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of State.

The Republic of Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs placed the call on Friday, August 21. The three officials shared relevant information and discussed future responses.

GULF OF ADEN — Six armed persons boarded the tanker Seamull, also known as SIBU 1, 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla, Yemen, and redirected the vessel toward Somalia.

The tanker broadcasted a distress call on VHF 16 after an unauthorized vessel approached while the ship traveled west in the Gulf of Aden. Authorities are investigating.

WASHINGTON, The National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency released joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA26-231A on August 19, warning of an active cyber threat to Siemens S7 Series programmable logic controllers (PLCs).

The authoring agencies state that threat actors are conducting reconnaissance and capability development against U.S.-based Siemens PLC installations. Actors use Internet scanning services to locate Internet-exposed or poorly protected devices running outdated software.

DOHA — On August 18 the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defense stated that its air defense systems detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the UAE.

Two missiles were launched: one fell outside UAE territorial waters and the other inside, but neither struck land. The UAE Interior Ministry briefly issued a public alert that was later lifted, and Iran has made no immediate official comment on the launches.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ — United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) issued Warning 115-26 on August 18 stating a Company Security Officer said that a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while conducting an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz.

The impact caused damage to the engine room and resulted in a crew casualty. The remaining crew are being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard. No environmental impact has been stated. Authorities are investigating.

MAREEYO, SOMALIA — UK Maritime Trade Operations received a report at 11:36 AM UTC on August 17 from the company security officer of a cargo vessel stating that eight armed unauthorized persons boarded the ship and took control of it 4 nautical miles south of Mareeyo, Somalia.

Authorities are investigating. UKMTO advises vessels to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity. No vessel name, flag, crew size, cargo, or current position beyond the reported location has been released by UKMTO.

MIDDLE EAST — Two explosive-laden Hadid-110 drones that the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Directorate stated were launched from across the Iranian border struck the private office of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the residence of the Parastin Agency director in the Pirmam district of Erbil province at 12:28 a.m. local time on August 17.

The Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Directorate stated the drones targeted the sites and reported no casualties. Barzani described the attacks as a dangerous escalation and an unacceptable threat to the region’s security and stability.