Somalis Vow To Take Ship Back From Pirates

A Somali official has vowed to rescue a hijacked Saudi oil supertanker "by using force if necessary."

Abdullkadir Musa is the deputy sea port minister in northern Somalia's Puntland region, which is a hotspot for piracy. He says that if the ship anchors anywhere near Eyl - where the U.S. says it's heading - then his forces will rescue it.

The supertanker was carrying a crew of 25 and was laden with 2 million barrels of crude oil. It was hijacked over the weekend.

The ship's owners grappled with how to respond Tuesday, as naval forces patrolling the region said they would not intervene to stop or free the captured vessel.

With few other options, shipowners in past piracy cases have ended up paying ransoms for their ships, cargos and crew.

NATO said it would not divert any of its three warships from the Gulf of Aden and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet also said it did not expect to send ships to try to intercept the MV Sirius Star. The tanker was seized over the weekend about 450 nautical miles off the Kenyan coast, the latest in a surge of pirate attacks this year.

Never before have Somali pirates seized such a giant ship so far out to sea.

Somalis on shore were stunned by the gigantic vessel - as long as an aircraft carrier at 1,080 feet - as it passed just off the coast on route to Eyl.

"As usual, I woke up at 3 a.m. and headed for the sea to fish, but I saw a very, very large ship anchored less than three miles off the shore," said Abdinur Haji, a fisherman near Harardhere, a pirate stronghold where the ship apparently anchored overnight, some 265 miles by land from Eyl.

"I have been fishing here for three decades, but I have never seen a ship as big as this one," he he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "There are dozens of spectators on shore trying to catch a glimpse of the large ship, which they can see with their naked eyes."

He said two small boats floated out to the ship and 18 men - presumably other pirates - climbed aboard with ropes woven into a ladder.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Tuesday called the hijacking "an outrageous act" and said, "piracy, like terrorism, is a disease which is against everybody, and everybody must address it together." Speaking during a visit to Athens, he did not elaborate on what steps, if any, the kingdom would take to better protect its vital oil tankers.

It is not known if the Sirius Star had a security team on board.

Executives from Dubai-based company that owns and operates the vessel, Vela International Marine Ltd., a subsidiary of Saudi oil company Aramco, released a statement Tuesday saying they had been in contact with the hijackers and were "awaiting further contact from the pirates in control of the vessel".

"Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew," Salah B. Ka'aki, President & CEO of Vela International Marine Ltd. Said in the statement. "We are in communication with their families and are working toward their safe and speedy return."

It made no mention of a ransom or contacts with the bandits, but such companies have little choice but to pay out huge ransoms, usually totaling around $1 million, to ensure the safety of the crew and the vessel's return.

The Sirius Star's cargo is worth about $100 million at current prices, but the pirates have no way to unload it from the tanker.

In Vienna, Ehsan Ul-Haq, chief analyst at JBC Energy, said the seizure was not affecting oil prices, since traders are focused instead on "the overall economy."

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said Tuesday it was monitoring the situation but didn't expect to send warships to surround the vessel as it has done with a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and other weaponry the was seized off the Somali coast on Sept. 25 and remains in pirate hands.

"I don't anticipate any U.S. ships on station," said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet, speaking from its headquarters in Bahrain.

He would not elaborate on how the Navy was watching the hijacked tanker.

The U.S. Navy said the hijacking took place Saturday. The statement posted on Vela's Web site said the ship was hijacked Sunday. The discrepancy could not immediately be explained.

Attacks by Somali pirates have surged this year as bandits have become bolder, better armed and capable of operating hundreds of miles from shore.

A coalition of warships from eight nations, as well as from NATO and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, is patrolling a critical zone in the Gulf of Aden leading to and from the Suez Canal. That's where most of the more than 80 attacks this year have occurred.

The Saudi tanker, however, was seized far to the south of the patrolled zone, according the U.S. Navy.

"NATO's mandate is not related to interception of hijacked ships outside the patrol area," said alliance spokesman James Appathurai. "I'm not aware that there's any intention by NATO to try and intercept this ship."

Meanwhile, a new cargo ship has been hijacked off the Somalia coast - the latest in a series of attacks by pirates operating out of the African country, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday.

Navy Commander Jane Campbell of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says the 26,000-ton bulk cargo carrier was attacked Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden.

She said the ship was flying a Hong Kong flag but is operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.

The status of the crew or its cargo were not known. Campbell says the ship is likely heading toward an anchorage site off the Somali coast.

The ship's name or other details were not immediately known.