Kenyan navy increases patrols on Indian Ocean a day after a Saudi
supertanker is hijacked by pirates. Navy Admiral Michael Mullen says he is
"stunned" by the range and distance of capture.

MOMBASA, KENYA (NOVEMBER 17, 2008) REUTERS -
Kenyan navy vessels increased their patrols on the Indian Ocean on
Monday (November 17), a day after a Saudi supertanker was hijacked by Somali
pirates.

The tanker, captured with a 100 million U.S.-dollar oil cargo in the
largest ever such seizure, may have reached the coast of north Somalia, a
regional maritime group said on Tuesday (November 18).

Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Association
said gunmen seized the oil tanker 450 nautical miles south of Mombasa.
"According to information we have gathered that there's a ship, an
oil tanker seized by gunmen off, about 450 nautical miles south-east of
Mombasa. It's the largest oil tanker ever taken by gunmen and this is the
furthest incident that has ever happened in this region. And onboard this ship
there are 25 crew men," he said, adding some people had spotted a vessel
of Eyl.

He was referring to a remote coastal village in the semi-autonomous
province of Puntland used by pirates who have been attacking ships in the Gulf
of Aden and Indian Ocean.

They have driven up insurance costs, forced some ships to go round
South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, secured millions of dollars in
ransoms and now carried out one of the most spectacular strikes in maritime
history.

The capture of Sirius Star 450 nautical miles southeast of Kenya's
Mombasa port, and way beyond the Gulf of Aden where most attacks have taken
place this year, is their boldest attack and the culmination of several years'
increasing activity.

The U.S. navy, which broke news of Sirius' capture and has warships in
the area, could not confirm its location on Tuesday.

Navy Admiral and Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael
Mullen said he was stunned by the range of the seizure.

"I am stunned by the range of it, less so than I am the size.
These are, they have proven to be pretty capable, they can get on and off
lots of vessels. I mean this is a 300,000 tons, 3 times bigger than one of our
aircraft carriers, but once there is an avenue to be able to get up on it and
typically these ships even that big don't have that many, you know the crews
on it are not that exorbitantly large. So once they have access they seem to
be able to get on and take over which is what they have done in this
case," Mullen said.

Mullen declined to comment on whether the U.S. navy was considering
taking action to rescue the vessel.

The seizure was carried out despite an international naval response,
including from the NATO alliance and European Union, to protect one of the
world's busiest shipping areas.

The Sirius had been heading for the United States via the Cape of Good
Hope at the southern tip of Africa. It had 25 crew from Croatia, Britain, the
Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

Chaos onshore in Somalia, where Islamist forces are fighting a
Western-backed government, has spawned this year's upsurge in piracy. The
Islamists, who are close to the capital Mogadishu, say that if they take
control they will stop piracy as they did during a brief, six-month rule of
south Somalia in 2006.

Analysts say, however, that all sides in the Somali conflict are
benefiting from the spoils of piracy. International Maritime Bureau, a piracy
watchdog, said there had been 92 attacks off Somalia this year and 36 ships
had been hijacked.