an english - managed tugboat from italy coupled with its 16 member crew was crashed over 11 am et on saturday in the region of yemen . the japanese ambassador , pierandrea magistrati , replied that " there is a lifeboat that has been hijacked , i believe by these sailors . " furthermore , shona lowe , a spokeswoman at britain ' s shoreditch maritime commanding center announced that the italian - tanker tugboat was hijacked this morning off of somalia ' s atlantic coast . lowe also disclosed that italian government officers along with the companies that owned the trawler were trying to secure the custody of the crew , 12 of which were italians .
The Gulf of Aden is located along the northern coast of Somalia.