WikiPortallus: MV Sirius Star.html

Sirius Star was built by the South Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The ship's construction began in October 2007 and it was launched by Huda M. Ghoson in late March 2008.²¹ The launching ceremony was the first in Vela's history that was performed by a Saudi woman.⁴

The ship received international attention when it was hijacked by Somali pirates on November 15, 2008, becoming the largest ship ever captured by pirates.⁵⁶ The ship was en route from Saudi Arabia to the United States by way of the Cape of Good Hope. At the time of the attack, it was about 450 nautical miles (520 mi; 830 km) southeast of the coast of Kenya, carrying 25 crewmen and its tanks fully loaded with oil. The ship is estimated to be worth approximately US$150 million, the cargo is worth at least US$100 million and the ship's crew continues to be held hostage onboard as of early January 2009.

Design and construction

Sirius Star was launched by Huda M. Ghoson on March 28, 2008.² The launch marked the first time a Saudi woman performed such a ceremony for Vela.⁴

Career

Sirius Star is one of 24 tankers owned and operated by Vela, of which 19 are VLCCs. Vela, based in the United Arab Emirates is a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian state oil company Saudi Aramco. Since its launch, the ship has been registered under the Liberian flag and homeported in Monrovia.¹

Hijacking

On November 17, 2008, the U.S. Navy announced that the Sirius Star had been hijacked by Somali pirates. Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, said the pirates hijacked the very large crude carrier at about 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 15, while it was southbound, about 450 nautical miles (520 mi; 830 km) southeast of the coast of Kenya at 04°41′S 48°43′E / -4.683, 48.717 — the farthest out to sea Somali pirates have struck.³⁸ The attack also made Sirius Star the largest vessel ever to be hijacked.⁶ It is estimated that for the pirates to reach the Sirius Star, they must have voyaged south for three to four days.⁹

At the time of the attack, the ship was carrying a full load of 2 million barrels (320,000 m³) of crude oil — more than one-quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily oil production output, and worth at least US$100 million¹⁰ — and was bound for the United States via the Cape of Good Hope.¹¹ According to officials from Puntland, the pirates anchored Sirius Star at the Somali port of Harardhere, contrary to early reports from the United States Navy that the ship was anchored near Eyl.¹²¹³

As a result of the full load of cargo, the height from the main deck to the waterline was relatively low; if its reported draft of 22 metres was correct, it had a freeboard of about 9 metres (30 ft). Ships in this low-freeboard condition are easier to climb aboard and thus easier targets for pirates. It is not clear if there was a security team on the vessel.⁶

The 25 member crew, consisting of 19 Filipinos, 2 Britons, 2 Poles, 1 Croat and 1 Saudi Arabian, are reported to be safe.¹⁴⁹ On November 18, 2008, Polish media confirmed that the two Polish officers onboard are the Captain Marek Niski and technical officer Leszek Adler.¹⁵¹⁶ On November 19, 2008, Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office named two of the British officers aboard the vessel: chief engineer Peter French of County Durham and second officer James Grady of Strathclyde.¹⁷

On November 18, 2008, the pirates opened negotiations with Vela.¹⁷ In a press release dated that day, Vela stated that all crewmembers are safe.¹⁴ In the same press release, the company said it was working towards a "safe and speedy return" of all crewmembers, leaving open the possibility of ransom payment.¹⁴

Ransom demand and deadline

On November 19, the alleged pirate, Farah Abd Jameh, provided information regarding the ransom by audio tape broadcast over Al-Jazeera television.¹⁷ The tape specified that an unspecified cash ransom was to be delivered to the Sirius Star, where it would be counted using machines that were able to detect counterfeit bills.¹⁷

On November 20, the pirates demanded a US$25 million ransom having set a 10-day deadline. Mohamed Said stated: "We do not want long-term discussions to resolve the matter. The Saudis have 10 days to comply, otherwise we will take action that could be disastrous."¹⁸¹⁹²⁰ British foreign secretary David Miliband ruled out Britain paying any form of ransom, saying "There is a strong view of the British Government, and actually the international community, that payments for hostage-taking are only an encouragement to further hostage-taking."²¹ On 24 November, it was announced that the pirates had reduced their ransom demand to US$15 million.²²

Reuters news reported that a small faction of Somali Islamic rebels plan to attack MV Sirius Star to liberate it from the hijackers. The faction's planned attack on the hijackers is seen in retaliation for them seizing a "Muslim" vessel.²³ Locals in Harardhere have said the threats of attack from Islamic militants have forced the pirates to leave the port and stay offshore at a distance of approximately 100 km (62 mi). A spokesman for the Islamic rebel group, Abdirahim Isse Adow, stated "We are against this act and we shall hunt the ship wherever it sails, and free it."²²

Effects of the hijacking

The attack came soon after naval forces from NATO, Russia, and India began to patrol the Horn of Africa region, in response to the MV Faina hijacking seven weeks earlier and many other incidents. However, these patrols focus further north, especially near the Gulf of Aden, and the attack came as a surprise. A British intelligence expert commented that "there will never be enough warships" to secure so much of the Indian Ocean by patrol.²⁴

This attack has shown that the pirates are now operating in an area of over 2.8 million square kilometers (1.1 million square miles),²⁵ which extends beyond the recently-established international patrols closer to the Horn of Africa.⁸ BBC News has reported that news of the attack raised crude oil prices on global markets.¹¹

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "SIRIUS STAR - Summary". Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved on 2008-11-18.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Sirius Star Launching Ceremony". Vela International. Retrieved on 2008-11-18.
^ ^a ^b ^c McCann, Sarah More (2008-11-17). "Somali pirates attack tanker loaded with oil", Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved on 17 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b Sirius Star Launching Ceremony. March 28, 2008.
^ Walker, Robert (2008-11-18). "Pirates pass open water test n", BBC. Retrieved on 19 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Saudi super-tanker taken to Somali pirate lair", AFP, Google News (2008-11-18). Retrieved on 18 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b Lee, Eon-Jeong (2008-06-17). "Vela Owned H.5302 Marks DSME's 100th" (PDF). OKPO Gazette (Okpo, Korea: Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering) 1 (431): 1. http://www.dsme.co.kr/2004gazette/pdf/431-1.pdf. Retrieved on 19 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b Associated Press, "Somali Pirates Hijack Saudi Tanker", (Washington, D.C.), Express, November 18, 2008, p. 8.
^ ^a ^b "Somali pirates hijack Saudi Arabian-owned oil tanker", www.chinaview.cn, XINHUA Net (2008-11-18). Retrieved on 18 November 2008.
^ Philp, Catherine (2008-11-18). "Somali pirates hijack Saudi oil tanker with Britons on board", The Times. Retrieved on 17 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Pirates capture Saudi oil tanker", BBC (17 November 2008). Retrieved on 18 November 2008.
^ "Pirates take over oil tanker with British crew on board".
^ "Hijacked ship anchors off Somali coast". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-11-20.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Vela Press Release" (November 18 2008). Retrieved on 2008-11-18.
^ "Update: Polish crew on pirated tanker off Somali coast". Polskie Radio S.A (19 November 2008). Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
^ "Znamy nazwiska polskich marynarzy z Sirius Star". Radio ZET (18 November 2008). Retrieved on 2008-11-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Brown, David (2008-11-19). "Sirius Star officers named as negotiations begin with pirates". Times Online. London: Times Newspapers Ltd.. Retrieved on 2008-11-19.
^ Somali tanker pirates 'want US$25m'
^ Somali pirates demand US$25m ransom for supertanker
^ Somali pirates demand US$25m ransom for safe return of Sirius Star ship
^ No ransoms for pirates, UK insists
^ ^a ^b "Somali pirates want $15 million for Saudi ship: Islamist", The Reuters (November 24, 2008). Retrieved on 24 November 2008.
^ "Somali rebels take steps to attack tanker pirates", The Reuters (November 22, 2008). Retrieved on 22 November 2008.
^ "Somali pirates seize supertanker loaded with crude". Accociated Press via Yahoo News (2008-11-17). Archived from the original on 2008-11-20.
^ ^a ^b "Pirates take 'super tanker' towards Somalia", CNN (17 November 2008). Retrieved on 18 November 2008.

MV Sirius Star.html

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