The yacht Kalizma sustained damage from intense gunfire off the coast of Yemen in the early-morning hours of April 28. While the yacht is en route to her final destination, conflicting accounts remain as to why gunfire erupted and what took place.
According to the Yemeni Coast Guard Authority, two of its vessels and a Yemeni Navy small patrol vessel were conducting a routine patrol near the coast of Ras Fartak and Hasween. They were monitoring what the Coast Guard calls a “contact of interest” in conjunction with a vessel passing near it. While the vessel was Kalizma, the Coast Guard indicates she wasn’t flying any flag state’s flag. The patrol boats hailed her on the VHF, repeatedly, due to her lack of identifying flag and her proximity to the coast, about 6 nautical miles. Since no response came via VHF, the patrol boats approached the yacht to get the crew’s attention and a reply to the VHF calls, as well as to get the yacht to stop.
Instead, according to the Coast Guard, Kalizma increased speed, and armed guards aboard her began firing heavily at the patrol boats. The Yemeni forces returned fire. As the superyacht set out for international waters, she issued a false distress call, the agency adds.
The Coast Guard further says that it subsequently reviewed the yacht’s route leading up to the incident. It deemed her proceeding “in a very suspicious way,” as close as 4.5 nautical miles from the coast at times. Officials further say her crew wore traditional uninforms, contradicting information indicating she was a fishing vessel. (AIS data from April 28 reveals she was listed as such.)
We contacted Aashim Mongia, managing director of West Coast Marine Yacht Services, the company that manages Kalizma. He didn’t respond to our questions by press time. However, in an interview with the Associated Press, Mongia gives a different account of what occurred. Specifically, he says, pirates attacked the 165-foot (50.29-meter) motoryacht first. Additionally, he says, the pirates came in waves, attempting to capture her. Therefore, three armed security guards aboard the yacht Kalizma fired upwards of 200 rounds to protect the yacht and her nine crewmembers. “If it was the Yemeni Coast Guard, why did they open fire?” he tells the newswire.
Furthermore, he says that Kalizma was so close to shore because it was her planned route. She was traveling from Oman to Saudi Arabia. AIS data confirms she departed Salalah in Oman and is presently en route to Jeddah.
What remains uncontested are details about what the hail of bullets did. A Yemeni Coast Guardsman was killed, and others were wounded. Mongia says one of the armed officers aboard Kalizma sustained a wound as well. Both the motoryacht and some of the patrol boats sustained damage, too. Photos from Kalizma reveal bullet-hole-like damage to her exterior and interior areas.
Notably, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides maritime-security information for vessels in high-risk waters, shared the yacht Kalizma’s distress call. It issued a warning under the heading “Attack.” It subsequently downgraded the warning to “Incident,” based on details from the Yemeni Coast Guard.
The yacht Kalizma is among the oldest superyachts in the world. She launched in 1906 from Scottish builder Ramage & Ferguson. She pressed into service for the British military during World War I and World War II. Returning to yacht service afterwards, she gained fame in the late 1960s under the ownership of the late actor Sir Richard Burton. Currently, she belongs to Shirish Saraf, an Indian entrepreneur with business interests in investments. She also is registered under the Cook Islands flag.
Maritime Cook Islands is investigating the incident and indicates it will reveal information at a later stage.
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