Somali Pirates Sieze U.S bound oil tanker worth 100 million (and that's only the oil)

Somali pirates seized a tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States in the dangerous waters off East Africa, an official said Monday, an attack that could pose a huge environmental security threat to the region.The ship was hijacked Sunday about 800 miles off the coast of Somalia, said a spokesman for the EU Naval Force.

The ship has 28 crew members on board, he said. 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. Pirates typically use guns and rocket-propelled grenades in their attacks, and some vessels now carry private security guards, but Middleton said oil tankers do not. In late 2007, pirates hijacked a chemical tanker carrying up to 10,000 tons of highly explosive benzene. Initially, American intelligence agents worried terrorists from Somalia's Islamic extremist insurgency could be involved, and might try to crash the boat into an offshore oil platform or use it as a gigantic bomb. Somalia's lawless 1,880-mile coastline provides a perfect haven for pirates to prey on ships heading for the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping routes. The impoverished Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning government for a generation and the weak U.N.-backed administration is too busy fighting the Islamist insurgency to arrest pirates. Pirates now hold about a dozen vessels hostage and more than 200 crew members. The Maran Centaurus had 28 crew aboard — 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and one Romanian. Piracy has increased despite an increased presence by international navies patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. The U.S. this fall began flying sophisticated drones over East African waters as part of the fight against piracy. Somali Pirates are known for hijacking vessels in the Red Sea region.

Sources and related Links:
Associated Press
CBS News

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