CNN is reporting that a Saudi supertanker, owned by Saudi ARAMCO, was seized by pirates Saturday. Piracy in the Indian Ocean is growing at a rapid clip. Navies from the US, UK, and Russia are patrolling the region—over a million square miles in extent—but haven’t been able to contain the problem. Perhaps we’ll be seeing Saudi naval vessels escorting the country’s own ships soon. The Royal Saudi Navy hasn’t had much of a chance to exercise its abilities, compared to the Army and Air Force, so this might be useful.

Pirates hijack Saudi ’super tanker’

(CNN) — Pirates inhave hijacked a Saudi-owned oil tanker with 25 crew aboard off the coast of Kenya the U.S. Navy and the British Foreign Office confirmed on Monday.

The Sirius Star — a crude “super tanker” flagged in Liberia and owned by the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco company — was attacked on Saturday more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, the statement said. The crew include British, Croatian, Polish, Filippino and Saudi nationals.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed two Britons were aboard and said it was seeking more information about the incident.

A multinational naval force including vessels from the U.S., the UK and Russia has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters seas near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, following a sharp increase in pirate attacks in the region.
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