Supertanker MV Sirius Star Hijacked off the coast of Somalia

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

This is the MV Sirius Star, a Saudi oil Supertanker that was hijacked. This is the 7th in the past 12 days. We may lose baby oil this weekend. LOL. Photo by AP.
This is the 7th hijacked marine vessel in the past 12 days, someone ought to stop this. I know there are already several Filipinos that are held hostage this side of the globe. Ones that happened a few months back ended with them paying ransom for both the hostages and the ship itself. With this haul of oil (about a quarter of daily production from Saudi Arabia) worth $100 Million, it seems that these thieves are getting more powerful since they seem to have invested in larger arms and quicker boats. How in the world could we resolve this problem if no one would like to step in.

Siruis Star is larger than an Aircraft Carrier

I bet you that if this were a US ship hijacked off international waters it would be a different story. Anyway, I know some parts of them would want Saudi to lose money because they are too rich already... but what about the people that are in those boats? Most of them are Filipino seafarers because this is one industry that we have excelled in. With the problems like that, Abu Sayyaf, the Taliban, ETA (I heard also that they got one of their heads arrested) and whatever terrorist organization it may be... there are only a few who dare to do something about it.

I hope UN sees this as an international crisis... even if there are only a few men on board these ships they are only human. Protection for them and their safety should be done and measures for their ships before they are allowed to go out to the sea be prioritized because there are just no guidelines whatsoever for these circumstances. I talk too much in my sleep ^_^

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