The group's Piracy Reporting Centre said it had records of 92 attacks against vessels so far this year, including 36 successful hijackings. They are usually resolved peacefully through negotiations for ransom but, given the value of the cargo in this instance, a military response has not been ruled out, our correspondent says.įourteen vessels - including the Ukrainian freighter MV Faina carrying 33 tanks and other military hardware, which was seized in September - remain captive in Somalia and under negotiation with around 268 crew being held hostage, according to the IMB. Hijackings off the coast of East Africa and the Gulf of Aden - an area of more than 1m sq miles - make up one-third of all global piracy incidents this year, according the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). 'Once they get to a point where they can board, it becomes very difficult to get them off, because, clearly, now they hold hostages,' he told a Pentagon briefing in Washington.Ĭommander Jane Campbell, of the US Navy's 5th Fleet, told the BBC it had warned shipping companies that the US naval presence could 'not be everywhere', adding: 'For that reason we have strongly encouraged proactive self-protection measures for the companies.' The US Fifth Fleet said the supertanker was 'nearing an anchorage point' at Eyl, a port often used by pirates based in Somalia's Puntland region.Īdm Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the pirates involved were well trained. The seizure points to the inability of a multi-national naval task force sent to the region earlier this year to stop Somali piracy, he says.

The hijacking was highly unusual both in terms of the size of the ship and the fact it was attacked so far south of Somalia, says BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner.

Speaking on Tuesday during a visit to Athens, he described piracy as 'a disease which is against everybody, and everybody must address it together'. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, has condemned the hijacking as 'an outrageous act', comparing piracy to terrorism.

Audio hijack pirate bay