NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! A surge in Somali piracy is fueling fears of a Red Sea "security vacuum" across the region as analysts warn of a revived maritime crime playbook, now linked to Iran-backed Houthis . The warning follows a May 2 report from Yemen’s coast guard that armed men hijacked an oil tanker off Shabwa and steered it toward the Gulf of Aden, and the vessel has since been located with recovery efforts underway, Reuters reported . "There is a fundamental shift in the maritime center of gravity amid a new phase of maritime instability in the region," Ido Shalev, chief operating officer at RTCOM Defense , told Fox News Digital. "Somali and Houthi-linked groups are teaming up — using skiffs and new tech to strike ships with coordination not seen in a decade — while Saudi crude rerouted from the Strait of Hormuz has created a ‘target-rich environment for them,’" he added. COULD SOMALILAND BASE EMERGE AS US FOOTHOLD AGAINST IRAN, HOUTHIS IN KEY SEA LANES?…