Somali pirates hijack South Korean-operated tanker with 21 crew members

2011-01-16 07:13:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- Somali pirates on Saturday hijacked a Norwegian-owned but South Korean-operated chemical tanker in the waters of the Indian Ocean, the European Union Naval Force - Somalia confirmed.

EU Naval Force spokesman Paddy O'Kennedy said the 19,609 tonne tanker the MV Samho Jewelry was hijacked on Saturday morning about 350 nautical miles (648 kilometers) southeast of the port of Muscat in Oman. It was on its way from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka.

O'Kennedy said the Maltese-flagged, Norwegian-owned and South Korean-operated vessel was carrying 21 crew members from Myanmar (Burma), South Korea and Indonesia. Other details were not immediately available.

Currently, Somali pirates are holding at least 29 vessels with a total of 693 hostages, according to the European Union Naval Force - Somalia, which keeps a record of pirating incidents. Most hijackings usually end without casualties when a ransom has been paid. This, however, often takes many months.

In recent years, Somali pirates have hijacked hundreds of ships, taking in hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom. Ships are patrolling the shipping lanes near Somalia in an effort to reduce hijackings, but the anti-piracy force has warned that attacks are likely to continue.

According to a recent study, maritime piracy cost the global economy up to $12 billion last year, with Somalia-based pirates responsible for 95 percent of the costs.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-01-16

How do these pirates manage to even get onboard these large tankers? Does the captain simply stop for a little pirate boat ad assist them to get on?

How do these pirates manage to even get onboard these large tankers? Does the captain simply stop for a little pirate boat ad assist them to get on?

There is certainly more to this situation than meets the eye. I read many reports by major media (CNN, BBC, Reuters, etc) that in many cases the location of the ships, after hijacking, was unknown - that the pirates were "hiding" them.

I know merchant marines and they all agree this is simply not possible. Not only is it impossible to hide a large ship from satellites (of which many are aimed in this general location) but almost all have GPS devices that are impossible for the "pirates" to defeat.

A few weeks ago I read where the Captain of a freighter "swerved" his ship back and forth to defeat the hijacker's boarding ! For those of you who are not mariners, swerving a 500 foot ship is, er, something that takes considerable time. Pretty sure the zodiacs could keep up with these maneuvers.

My guess - and it is just a guess - is that this all has something to do with the strategic geographical location of Somalia and events that are forthcoming.