Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Seizing "The Sirius Star"

A lot of you have commented on the big story of the day- the seizing of the Sirius Star oil tanker (which is 330 metres long) by Somali pirates (don't forget Somalia is next to Kenya, where the family of our "serious man for serious times" Barack Obama hails from).

 
Pirates have anchored a hijacked Saudi oil tanker off the Somali coast, as the spate of hijackings gathered pace with two more ships seized on Tuesday. Vela International said all 25 crew on the Sirius Star - the biggest tanker ever hijacked - were said to be safe. The vessel is carrying a cargo of 2m barrels - a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily output - worth more than $100m.

Here's Vela International's logo...
Fascinating. Meanwhile, we're hearing that "serious progress" has been made in the appointment of Hillary Clinton as Sec'y of State... 


UPDATE II: OK, my head is about to explode...
The South Korean foreign ministry says pirates seized the Chemstar Venus and its crew of five South Koreans and 18 Filipinos off the coast of Somalia late Saturday. The ship is owned by a Japanese company. There has been no word on the condition of the crew... ...International Maritime officials say at least 83 (=11) have been attacked off Somalia this year, with 33 of them hijacked. The pirates are currently holding about 11 ships, including a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying 33 tanks. -VOA