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'Sirius Star', biggest vessel hijacked by Somali Pirates
Nairobi,
Kenya,
Nov
18:
Not
even
a
week
has
passed
when
the
hijack
attempt
of
MT
Stolt
Valor
was
thwarted,
the
Somali
Pirates
have
taken
up
one
more
task
of
hijacking.
This
time
it
is
the
capture
of
a
fully
laden
Saudi
supertanker
far
off
east
Africa.
They
have
seized
the
biggest
vessel
ever
hijacked
with
a
cargo
of
oil
worth
over
$100
million
in
an
attack
that
pushed
world
crude
prices
higher.
The
US
Fifth
Fleet
said
the
'Sirius
Star'
was
being
taken
to
the
pirate
haven
of
Eyl,
in
northern
Somalia,
on
Monday,
Nov
17.
The
hijacking
of
the
Saudi
Aramco-owned
vessel
on
Sunday,
Nov
16
is
certain
to
add
to
pressure
for
concerted
international
action
to
tackle
the
growing
threat
posed
by
pirates
from
anarchic
Somalia
to
one
of
the
world's
busiest
shipping
routes.
The Sirius Star held as much as two million barrels of oil -- more than one quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily exports. The hijacking helped lift global oil prices over $1 to more than $58 a barrel, although they later lost some gains.
The hijacking, 450 nautical miles (830 km) southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, was in an area far beyond the Gulf of Aden, where most of the attacks on shipping have taken place and where foreign navies have begun patrols.
The Sirius Star had been heading for the United States via the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, skirting the continent instead of heading through the Gulf of Aden and then the Suez Canal.
The ship, at 318,000 deadweight tons, was the largest ever captured by pirates.
The Sirius Star is Liberian-flagged, and owned and operated by state oil giant Saudi Aramco's shipping unit Vela International. The vessel was launched in March.
OneIndia
News
