The Sirius Star is the biggest tanker ever to be hijacked, with a cargo of 2m barrels - a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily output - worth more than $100m.
The vessel was captured in what the navy called an "unprecedented" attack 450 nautical miles (830km) off the Kenyan coast on Saturday.
Its international crew of 25, including two Britons, is said to be safe.
The ship's operator, Vela International, said a response team had been mobilised to work towards ensuring the safe release of vessel and crew.
The hijacking was highly unusual both in terms of the size of the ship and the fact it was attacked so far from the African coast, says BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner.
The seizure points to the inability of a multi-national naval task force sent to the region earlier this year to stop Somali piracy, he says.
The US Fifth Fleet said the supertanker was "nearing an anchorage point" at Eyl, a port often used by pirates based in Somalia's Puntland region.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the pirates involved were well trained.
"Once they get to a point where they can board, it becomes very difficult to get them off, because, clearly, now they hold hostages," he told a Pentagon briefing in Washington.
Oil price rises
Hijackings off the coast of East Africa and the Gulf of Aden - an area of more than 1m square miles - make up one-third of all global piracy incidents this year, according the International Maritime Bureau.
No comments:
Post a Comment