I must admit from the start that I am somewhat surprised that this story is not getting more play in the media. An Saudi oil tanker has been hijacked by Somali terrorists and is seemingly being held for ransom of its $ 100 million cargo.
According to the news reports, this is an unusual event even in the world of piracy that has become common in parts of the Indian Ocean.
The Sirius Star is the biggest tanker ever to be hijacked, with a cargo of 2m barrels – a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily output – worth more than $100m.
The vessel was captured in what the navy called an “unprecedented” attack 450 nautical miles (830km) off the Kenyan coast on Sunday.
Its international crew of 25, including two Britons, is said to be safe.
The hijacking was highly unusual both in terms of the size of the ship and the fact it was attacked so far from the African coast, says BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner.
In reading this story, I can’t help but to see it through the lens of 9/11 and wonder if this could be part of our future. Imagine a group of terrorists using this example to hijack a tanker of LPG or some equally volatile substance. They drive it into Houston or New Orleans or New York harbor and set it off, resulting in a disaster beyond imagination.
Sadly, I think that this is much like 9/11 in that, even with the advance knowledge of this possibility, there is little we can do to stop it. We can’t have police agents on every ship in the world. Our only hope is that the existing security proves sufficient.
Needless to say, I will be VERY glad to be wrong about this.