JIDDA, Saudi Arabia -- Pirates captured a Saudi-owned supertanker loaded with more than $100 million worth of crude oil off the coast of Kenya, seizing the largest ship ever hijacked, United States Navy officials said Monday. The hijacking follows a string of increasingly brazen attacks by Somali pirates in recent months, but this appears to be the first time that pirates have seized a full oil tanker. "This is unprecedented," Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Fifth Fleet, told Reuters. "It's the largest ship that we've seen pirated. It's three times the size of an aircraft carrier."The International Maritime Bureau, the global clearinghouse for piracy reporting, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has seen a sharp increase in maritime piracy this year.Noel Choong, head of the piracy reporting center at the bureau, said Tuesday that 88 ships have been attacked in the Gulf of Aden alone this year. And 14 hijacked ships remain in the gulf -- the heavily armed hijackers still on board, with the crews, cargo and the vessels themselves being held for ransom.
JIDDA, Saudi Arabia -- Pirates captured a Saudi-owned supertanker loaded with more than $100 million worth of crude oil off the coast of Kenya, seizing the largest ship ever hijacked, United States Navy officials said Monday.
The hijacking follows a string of increasingly brazen attacks by Somali pirates in recent months, but this appears to be the first time that pirates have seized a full oil tanker.
"This is unprecedented," Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Fifth Fleet, told Reuters. "It's the largest ship that we've seen pirated. It's three times the size of an aircraft carrier."
The International Maritime Bureau, the global clearinghouse for piracy reporting, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has seen a sharp increase in maritime piracy this year.
Noel Choong, head of the piracy reporting center at the bureau, said Tuesday that 88 ships have been attacked in the Gulf of Aden alone this year. And 14 hijacked ships remain in the gulf -- the heavily armed hijackers still on board, with the crews, cargo and the vessels themselves being held for ransom.
Meanwhile:
Piracy gained a new level of international attention in September when a Ukrainian freighter packed with tanks, antiaircraft guns and other heavy weapons was captured. That freighter is still under pirate control.
Of course, hitting the oil supply might just be a fatal mistake as it's one of the few things that could prompt serious international reaction.
