SOMALI PIRATES HIJACK SAUDI OIL TANKER
Somali Pirates Hijack Saudi Oil Tanker
Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates seized a tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the U.S. in waters off East Africa, an official said Monday, in an attack that could pose a possible environmental or security threat to the region.
The Greek-owned Maran Centaurus was hijacked Sunday about 800 miles off the coast of Somalia, said Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the European Union’s Naval Force. He said the vessel originated from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was destined for the U.S. The ship has 28 crew members on board, Cmdr. Harbour added. The crew includes 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and one Romanian.
Shipping intelligence company Lloyd’s List said the Maran Centaurus is a “very large crude carrier, with a capacity of over 300,000 tons.” Officials couldn’t immediately say how many barrels of oil were on board, but its value would be in the millions of dollars.
Pirates have increased attacks on vessels off the coast of East Africa for the millions of dollars of ransom that can be had. They now hold about a dozen vessels and more than 200 crew members hostage.
Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at London-based think tank Chatham House, said Monday that pirate demands and negotiations are becoming more complex. “They still want the money but they have also asked for the release of imprisoned comrades,” he said. “That demand is an extra bargaining tool they can use to add extra layers to their negotiating position.”
Although pirates have successfully hijacked dozens of vessels during the last several years, Sunday’s attack appears to be only the second on an oil tanker.
In November 2008, pirates hijacked the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, which held two million barrels of oil valued at about $100 million. The tanker was released last January for a reported $3 million ransom after a two-month drama that helped galvanize international efforts to fight piracy off Africa’s coast.
Mr. Middleton said the hijacking of a tanker increases worries that the vessel could crash, be run aground or be involved in a firefight. Pirates often use guns and rocket-propelled grenades in their attacks, and some vessels now carry private security guards, but Mr. Middleton said oil tankers don’t.
“You’re sitting on a huge ship filled with flammable liquid. You don’t want somebody with a gun on top of that,” he said. “Financially it’s a very costly exercise because the value of oil is so volatile. If it is held for a long time and the price of oil drops, they could lose millions of dollars.”
Somalia’s 1,880-mile coastline provides a perfect haven for pirates to prey on ships heading for the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. The impoverished Horn of Africa nation hasn’t had a functioning government for a generation and the weak United Nations-backed administration is too busy fighting the Islamist insurgency to arrest pirates.
Piracy has risen despite an increased presence by international navies patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. The U.S. this fall began flying sophisticated drones over East African waters as part of the fight against piracy.
Copyright © 2009 Associated Press
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