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May 13, 2010 at 6:46AM by Mark Warren Workers on the Arabian Gulf overlook a supertanker owned by Saudi Aramco, the oil company that used a suck-and-salvage American technology to recover 85 percent of its previously unreported spill in 1993 and '94. There's a potential solution to the Gulf oil spill that neither BP, nor the federal government, nor anyone — save a couple intuitive engineers — seems willing to try. As The Politics Blog reported on Tuesday in an interview with former Shell Oil president John Hofmeister, the untapped solution involves using empty supertankers to suck the spill off...

Supertanker owners may start refusing cargoes within the next three months unless rates return to a profitable level, said Frontline Ltd., the biggest operator of the ships which carry almost half the world’s oil. Ship owners are contributing $942 a day toward fuel costs to ship Middle East crude, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange. Rates have been below operating costs since July. Should the losses persist, some owners may choose to idle their ships, according to Jens Martin Jensen, Singapore-based chief executive officer of Frontline’s management unit. “If you see another quarter, then I think owners have to do...

While much attention has been focused on threats to maritime security posed by cargo container ships, terrorists could also attempt to use oil tankers to stage an attack. If they were able to place an atomic bomb on a tanker and detonate it in a US port, they would cause massive destruction....SNIP... Detecting a bomb on a tanker would be difficult...SNIP To stage a nuclear attack using a tanker, terrorists would need to aquire a nuclear device and smuggle it onto a ship...SNIP Terrorists might also smuggle a bomb onto a ship at sea...

In a dramatic escalation of high seas crime, Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi supertanker loaded with crude oil hundreds of miles off the coast of East Africa - defeating the security web of warships trying to protect vital shipping lanes.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2008 – Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said he was shocked by the piracy of a Saudi Arabian supertanker 450 nautical miles off the coast of Kenya in the Arabian Sea. Mullen, speaking during a Pentagon news conference today, said the Sirius Star was attacked more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. News reports indicate the pirates have hijacked the ship and are heading for the Somali port of Eyl. The ship is owned by a Saudi Arabian oil company and flagged in Liberia. Its crew of 25 includes citizens of Croatia, Great Britain, The Philippines,...

A firefighting supertanker jumbo jet has been grounded at its Victorville hub while fire officials investigate what caused the plane to make an emergency landing Monday night. The DC-10 airtanker used by the state firefighting agency, Cal Fire, was forced to return to Victorville about 5:20 p.m. Monday after it struck the top of several trees while fighting the White forest fire in Kern County, according to a statement by Cal Fire. The plane, which carries 12,000 gallons of water or fire retardant, struck severe turbulence near Bison Peak south of Tehachapi, but was able to apply power and...