Pirates hijack $20M of oil

NAIROBI, Kenya — Crews on oil tankers aren’t allowed to smoke above deck, much less carry guns, for fear of igniting the ship’s payload. That’s one of the main reasons Somali pirates met little resistance when they hijacked a U.S.-bound supertanker carrying $20 million in crude.

The Greek-flagged tanker — traveling from Saudi Arabia to New Orleans — had no escort when it was hijacked Sunday because naval warships are stretched too thin. The problem has been further exacerbated because pirates have expanded their operations to hundreds of miles out at sea.

The hijacking, one year after seizure of a Saudi supertanker led to heightened international efforts to fight piracy off the Horn of Africa, has highlighted the difficulty of keeping ships safe in the region — particularly oil tankers.

The Maran Centaurus was about 800 miles off the coast of Somalia when it was hijacked with 28 crew, said Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force. On Monday, it was headed toward Somalia’s lawless coast, a location where pirates most likely will hold the vessel as they attempt to negotiate a multimillion-dollar ransom.

While some ships traveling in the region have been outfitted with high pressure water guns and piercing noisemakers to repel pirates, even this is shunned on oil tankers for fear of triggering a response from pirates armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

“If you’re not allowed to smoke a cigarette on the upper deck of an oil tanker, why would you want someone with a weapon up there?” said Graeme Gibbon-Brooks, who heads the private security company Dryad Maritime Intelligence.

There is also the threat that an accident or gunfight could lead to a leak that would devastate thousands of miles of ocean or coastline.

The Maran Centaurus was traveling about 11 knots when it was hijacked, according to Maj. Marten Granberg of the EU Naval Force. Most successful hijacks occur on ships traveling less than 20 knots. The ship was heading toward New Orleans, he said.