Deepseafishing pirates

The modus operandi was usual, much less the target. Somali pirates attacked the ship as usual: grapnels launched from speedboats, a collision rule by men equipped with GPS, satellite phones, grenade launchers and rifles-AK-47 machine-guns. But their prey, Saturday, was exceptional, unprecedented in the history of piracy: a supertanker Saudi 300 m long, filled with 2 million barrels of oil, a cargo estimated at almost $ 100 million (79 million). For the latest news yesterday evening, the Star Sirius and its 25 crew members - Saudi, Croatian, Polish, British and mostly Filipino - were anchored under the custody of pirates, "off of a Somali port near Haradheere" , North of the capital Mogadishu, according to a spokesman for the Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain. The U.S. Navy did not go into details on a possible military rescue operation. "Disturbing". Somali pirates have laughed at all alerts, all military mobilizations of NATO and the European Union, which in recent months trying to protect the many ships in sea areas most popular commercial on the planet . That pirates prey on cargo ships is not new, but this is the first time they seek a target as important especially as far from their bases assumed. The Star Sirius has been addressed in very high seas, 450 nautical miles (over 800 km) off the coast of Kenya and Tanzania, so close to the Seychelles Islands Party ... Saudi Arabia, inflated oil, with with one quarter of the daily production of the country, he should join the United States, via the Cape of Good Hope. Somali pirates are accustomed to act on other roads, much further north, notably at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen. "Even if it is only the latest attack in a general upsurge on the east coast of Africa, it is very worrying because it is the largest ship ever been hacked And because the distance from the coast suggests a very well organized, "said Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Bureau of Maritime Affairs (IMB), a private organization based in London, but which works with Interpol and the United Nations in the fight against piracy. As in other previous cases, the pirate speedboats have been carried out in the area of the attack by a much larger vessel came the Somali coast. On 25 September, a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying heavy weapons, including tanks, had been taken by pirates off the same coast. "We are not discussing guards camels", explained yesterday at the Reuters specialist piracy. The Sirius Star is a ship of Vela International, the transport subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world and state-owned Saudi now supposed to receive a ransom. "We believe that the 25 crew members were unharmed, said yesterday, a spokesman for Vela International. "They are our main concern. We expect a contact from the pirates. This act will only strengthen the resolve of countries bordering the Red Sea and beyond at the international level to combat piracy, "said the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal. While in recent years appeared to improve the situation in Southeast Asia - particularly in the Indonesian archipelago, the most risky for merchant ships in the early 2000s - it is getting worse in waters African Indian Ocean. According to the IMB, 92 vessels were attacked in the Gulf of Aden and the west coast of Somalia during the year, 36 of them with "success". The Somali pirate groups currently hold 14 vessels of various sizes (including cargo Ukrainian) and holding hostage 268 crew members. "Escalade". Beginning in April, pirates hijacked and had approached the Ponant, a French yacht cruise of 88 m long, taking hostage 30 crew members, before they are released by the intervention of the French army. In recent months, France, Russia, the USA and the UK have reinforced their military presence in the areas most affected. But the operation Saturday, though far from the coast, especially proves that it is impossible to monitor everything. "This is an escalation, said Roger Middleton, a specialist in the Horn of Africa to the research institute Chatham House in London. The military solution can not be an answer, because there is simply not enough shipbuilding capacity to cover the whole area at risk. "According to the U.S. Navy, shipowners have, moreover, not enough investment in the safety of their ships on the coast of East Africa, despite repeated warnings from the IMB. "Companies do not look twice when it comes to protecting their property on land recently considered a senior. Protect their crews and their boats should not be different. " Yesterday, according to the IMB, two new ships lacked the call off the African coast a cargo of wheat for Hong Kong, with 25 crew and a fishing vessel 12hommes.