Owner of hijacked Saudi tanker says crew safe (5:10 p.m.)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The owner of a Saudi oil supertanker hijacked by Somali pirates over the weekend said the 25 crewmembers are safe and the ship is fully loaded with crude.
Dubai-based Vela International Marine Ltd., a subsidiary of Saudi oil company Aramco, said in a statement Monday that company response teams have been set up and are working to ensure the release of the crew and the vessel.
The US Navy said the M/V Sirius Star was seized far off the coast of Kenya on Saturday and that the bandits were taking the ship to a Somali port known as a hub of pirate activity.
However, the statement posted on Vela’s Web site late Monday said the ship was hijacked Sunday. The discrepancy could not immediately be explained.
Attacks by Somali pirates have surged this year as bandits have become bolder, better armed and capable of operating hundreds of miles from shore.
A coalition of warships from eight nations, as well as from Nato and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, is patrolling a critical zone in the Gulf of Aden leading to and from the Suez Canal. That’s where most of the more than 80 attacks this year have occurred.
The Saudi tanker, however, was seized far to the south of the patrolled zone, about 450 nautical miles (833 kilometers) southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, according the US Navy. (AP)
Leave a Reply