November 18, 2008

Today in the news there are reports of three incidents of international hijacking and terrorism. They include cargo ships from Denmark, Saudui Arabia and Hong Kong. Here are links to the news reports.

[click on Google Earth map for close up view]

Hong Kong grain ship hijacked by pirates, A Hong Kong cargo ship loaded with wheat bound for Iran has been hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. There were 25 crew members on board, none of them from Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland. The ship was carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Iran's Bandar Abbas port. (Reuters 11/18/2008)

Danish oil ship briefly seized off Nigeria, A Danish shipping group says one of its vessels has been released after being hijacked for nearly 30 hours in Nigeria's southern oil region. Thor Shipping executive Thomas Mikkelsen says the crew aboard the Thor Galaxy was not harmed. He says the ship was headed to Warri in southern Nigeria with oil exploration equipment when armed men boarded the ship Sunday. The ship and its Filipino crew were released about 30 hours later.(Yahoo News 11/18/2008)

New ship seized in Gulf of Aden Vela International, owner of the oil tanker called Sirus Star, said on Tuesday that they had established contact with the pirates and were seeking to ensure the safety of the 25-man crew. The pirates seized control of the tanker on Saturday, 450 nautical miles south-east of the Kenyan Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. The attack marked a significant escalation in the scope of banditry in the region. (Financial Times, 11/18/2008)

Saudis label pirates 'terrorists' after $100m loss The Saudi Royal Family condemned Somali pirates as terrorists today after losing $100 million worth of oil in an audacious heist that saw bandits seize a supertanker in the Arabian Sea. The Sirius Star, which was carrying two million barrels of oil, a quarter of the Kingdom's daily output, was captured with its multi-national crew, including two Britons, 450 miles off the coast of Kenya on Sunday. The hijack was the biggest ever act of piracy in the perilous shipping lanes off the east coast of Africa. Vela International, the ship’s owners, said today that the crew were safe and that their response team was awaiting further contact with the gang. (Financial Times, 11/18/2008)

Hijacked Supertanker Anchors Off Somalia Although the supertanker’s exact location near the Somali coast was not clear, in the past most pirates have brought hijacked vessels to a 230-mile stretch of coastline between Eyl in the north to the Harardhere region to the south, Commander Campbell said in a telephone interview. (New York Times, 11/18/2008)