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[QUOTE]Originally posted by beststocks: [QB] U.S.-Bound Supertanker Seized by Pirates Off Somalia (Update4) Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A By Alaric Nightingale and Gregory Viscusi Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Greek-owned supertanker Maran Centaurus was seized by pirates off Somalia while heading to the U.S., as attackers venture ever farther from shore to hijack merchant ships. It’s the second time Somali pirates have seized an oil supertanker, with the last incident a year ago leading to a record ransom and an increase in Western naval patrols. Today’s hijacking is “probably” the farthest from shore by Somali pirates, said Cyrus Mody, a manager at the International Maritime Bureau in London. His organization has yet to verify details of the attack, he said. The vessel, which can carry 2 million barrels of oil, was taken by Somali pirates in the Somali Basin about 600 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles, the European Union anti- piracy naval force in the region said on its Web site today. The 28-man crew comes from Greece, Philippines, Ukraine, and Romania. The ship’s management said the vessel was fully laden with crude oil. “We are surely getting closer to the day where nothing is safe anywhere between the Seychelles and Suez,” Jonathan Bruce, a partner and maritime law expert at Elborne Mitchell Solicitors in London, said in a telephone interview. “We’re seeing insurance companies extending their war risk zones.” A caller from the vessel said all those on board are being well treated and the ship is heading for the area of Hobyo on Somalia’s Puntland coast, Maran Tanker Management said in a e- mailed statement. There were no armed security guards on board at the time of the attack, according to the statement. Previous Seizure Somali pirates last seized an oil tanker in November 2008 when they took the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star and its 2 million barrels of oil. It was released in January 2009 for a ransom that the U.S. Congressional Research Service estimated at $3 million, believed to be largest ransom paid to Somali pirates at that point. Some press reports said pirates received $3.5 million for the February 2009 release of the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with Russian tanks and other weapons. “We don’t really know what the most ever paid for a ship is because the pirates have a tendency to claim higher prices than what’s really paid,’ said Hans Tino Hansen, founder of Risk Intelligence, a Danish risk consultancy. ‘‘It’s in their interest to make ship owners think these are the going rates.” The taking of the Sirius Star and Fiana spurred Western nations to increase their naval presence in the area. A year ago, there were about 15 warships off Somalia. Now there are about 25, with fleets from the European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and a U.S.-led coalition dedicated to combating piracy. UN Vote In a previously scheduled vote, the United Nations Security Council voted 15-to-0 today to extend for one year its authorization for countries to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia and to chase pirates onto the territory of the African nation. After a lull during the summer monsoon, Somali pirates have shifted their attacks to the Indian Ocean to avoid naval patrols in the Gulf of Aden, their previous focus. Somali pirates have attacked ships 193 times this year, seizing 37 vessels, says the French Navy. With today’s hijacking, pirates are holding 12 ships and 252 seamen for ransom, the French Navy says. In 2008, Somali pirates attacked 165 ships and seized 45, the French Navy says. The declining success rate for pirates this year is partly due to the increased presence by warships from Europe, the U.S., and Asian countries. They’ve concentrated their patrols on the Gulf of Aden, a chokepoint to the Suez Canal used by 20,000 ships a year. Gulf of Aden Forced out of the narrower Gulf of Aden, Somali pirates have mastered the use of “motherships,” or converted second- hand fishing vessels that can travel hundred of miles out into the Indian Ocean to launch skiffs for the final assault on passing ships, Peter Pham, director of the African project at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, a New York- based research center, said in a telephone interview. While the Indian Ocean has many fewer merchant ships than the Gulf of Aden, it also has fewer naval patrols, he said. “The pirates are now operating in an area the size of Europe where the naval forces are spread thin,” said Hansen. “That means that the pirates have an interest in attacking any ship that passes because they may not see another ship for a while, and it also means they have plenty of time to keep circling their prey until they find a way to board.” Maran Centaurus is owned by Anangel Shipping Enterprises SA, according to Lloyd’s Register-Fairlay data on Bloomberg. The vessel was bound for the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Its last port of call was Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait. Jenkins, the Simpson analyst, said the effect of the incident on the tanker market will be limited because the amount of oil being shipped west from the Middle East has already dropped, said Mark Jenkins, an analyst at Simpson, Spence & Young Ltd., the second-largest shipbroker. To contact the reporters on this story: Alaric Nightingale in London at anightingal1@bloomberg.net; Gregory Viscusi in Paris at +33 gviscusi@Bloomberg.net. Last Updated: November 30, 2009 12:38 EST [/QB][/QUOTE]
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