SKorean warship catches up with hijacked oil tanker in Indian Ocean

SKorean warship catches up with hijacked tanker

SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean navy destroyer caught up with a hijacked supertanker carrying about $160 million of crude oil and was maneuvering nearby in the Indian Ocean, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The supertanker, on its way from Iraq to the United States, is believed to have been hijacked by Somali pirates, the latest high-value bargaining chip for the sea bandits. Similar seizures of oil supertankers in the waters off the coast of lawless Somalia have yielded ransoms as high as $5.5 million.

South Korea’s navy received a call Sunday from the South Korean-operated 300,000-ton Samho Dream saying three pirates had boarded it and then lost contact.

At the time, the tanker was about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) southeast of the Gulf of Aden. It has 24 crew — five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos. South Korea quickly diverted a navy destroyer from anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden to pursue the hijacked tanker.

The destroyer caught up and began operating near the hijacked supertanker as of early Tuesday South Korean time, which was late Monday where the ships were operating, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The tanker was sailing toward Somalia’s coast, the ministry said. It declined to offer further details, including the exact location of the tanker and destroyer, citing operational security and safety concerns.

“It looks like negotiations might happen, but we can’t confirm anything because the hostages as well as the oil tanker are at risk,” said Lim Jeong-taek, a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Cmdr. John Harbour, U.K.-based spokesman for the European Union Naval Force Somalia, also said the hijacked vessel was heading toward the coast of the East African nation, citing confirmation by EU patrol aircraft.

“The tanker is over 600 miles (966 kilometers) away from the Somali Coast and it could take a few days for the Samho Dream to get to there,” he said, adding that the force would be monitoring its movements closely.

South Korea’s navy said that the destroyer is armed with a Lynx helicopter, 40 ship-to-ship and ship-to-air missiles and artillery. About 300 sailors and marines, including a 30-member search and inspection team, are aboard the warship, according to the navy.

A maritime analyst doubted the South Korean warship would launch an assault on the pirates believed to be holding Samho Dream because such action would put the crew at great risk. Its highly volatile cargo prevents crews from carrying guns on board or even lighting cigarettes while on deck.

“The reason why an assault is extremely hazardous is you have to be able to suppress the pirates and take control back as fast as possible. If you don’t take control fast, there is a greater risk to the crew,” said Graeme Gibbon Brooks of Dryad Maritime Intelligence in Britain.

Previously, when Somali pirates have captured supertankers, naval forces patrolling the Gulf of Aden have only moved close to the pirate lairs where the vessels have been anchored to monitor them until they are released.

This was the case when a Greek-flagged oil supertanker was seized in November last year and a Saudi supertanker was hijacked in November 2008.

The vessel is operated by South Korea-based Samho Shipping and owned by a Singaporean company. It was on its way from Iraq to the U.S. state of Louisiana when it was seized.

The Samho Dream had no security detail because Somali pirates were believed to be inactive in the area where the tanker was seized — several hundred miles (kilometers) from Somalia, said Cho Yong-woo of Samho Shipping.

The waters surrounding the Horn of Africa nation, including the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, are known to be among the world’s most dangerous. An international flotilla, including warships from the United States, the European Union, NATO, Japan and China, has been patrolling the area to protect the vital sea lane that links Asia to Europe.

But pirates have also shown an ability to strike farther afield, on the high seas.

The U.S. 5th Fleet said in a statement Monday that the distance Somali pirates are willing to go to capture ships shows their desperation and is a sign of the success of a multinational effort to police the vast Gulf of Aden.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and its lawless coastline is a haven for pirates. At least 17 ships and more than 240 crew are believed to be held by pirates off the coast of Somalia, according to various officials. Multimillion-dollar ransoms have become a way to make money in the impoverished nation.

The Samho Dream can carry approximately 260,000 tons of crude oil, said an employee at Samho Shipping, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

That would be about 1.9 million barrels, which at current oil prices is worth approximately $160 million.

Associated Press writers Tom Maliti in Nairobi, Kenya; Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul and Amy Shafer in Chicago contributed to this report.