Posted on 11/30/2009 1:15:00 PM PST by pissant
NAIROBI, Kenya - Somali pirates seized a tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States in the increasingly dangerous waters off East Africa, an official said Monday, an attack that could pose a huge environmental or security threat to the region.
The Greece-flagged Maran Centaurus was hijacked Sunday about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) off the coast of Somalia, said Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force. Harbour said it originated from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and was destined for the United States. The ship has 28 crew members on board, he said.
The 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 could not 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 East Africa for the millions in ransom that can be had. Though pirates have successfully hijacked dozens of vessels the last several years, Sunday's attack appears to be only the second ever on an oil tanker.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
No one outside of this country fears this assclown.
Pirates attack Maersk Alabama Again (Guess who's ready for them?)
Why is it that no one has thought of sinking the Somali mother ship? Those other small boats couldn’t do a dam thing 500 miles at sea.
No, this is actually “UN World” where nations are so deluded that they can make allowances for private ships to defend from criminals when in port or at sea.
“Those other small boats couldn’t do a dam thing 500 miles at sea.”
But it sure would be fun watching them try to row back.
The motherships may have prisoners on board. Nations don’t want to take the chance of killing one.
This whole pirate thing could have been avoided if klintoon had done his job and turned Somalia into a parking lot after Black Hawk Down happened. Instead he watched as our soldiers were killed and then degraded and drug through the streets AND DID NOTHING ABOUT IT!!!
Sink all ships/boats withing 200 mi of Somalia including bombing all boats hauled onshore. Do this for 40 years. Likely no problem for 40 years.
It's Greek owned and operated. Why not ask them?
Ships have not allowed crews to carry weapons for multiple decades. Has to do with a history of mutiny. Seriously.
That is why we had created the Sea-Bees so they could protect the ships they were on - and be liable to military law.
Even now the Maersk Alabama does not allow it's crew to carry guns - they have hired guards.
Maritime law is a funny thing.
I do agree that we need to execute each and every pirate we can. End this nonsense.
A series of low-level napalm drops would work wonders - nothing left to repair.
The ship isn’t American flagged, so I really don’t care what happens to it.
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