'Tighter Cooperation Needed' To Fight Piracy

November 19, 2008 8:38 a.m. EST

(TML) - The hijacking of a Saudi oil tanker off the coast of Africa has taken piracy up a notch and signals that improved cooperation is needed to fight piracy, a shipping expert said.

The Sirius Star was hijacked off east Africa and is anchored near Somalia, with some two million barrels of crude oil on board and a crew of 25 people hailing from Croatia, the Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

The world's most brazen hijacking operation in maritime history has prompted calls for stronger cooperation among parties in the shipping industry.

"There is a disconnect at the top of the shipping industry," Jim Wilson, Middle East correspondent for Fairplay international shipping magazine said.

"The leaders of the industry are quite right in protesting vehemently against piracy and encouraging the authorities to provide protection as they're aware of the problems piracy creates for themselves and for the international economy. But at the crew level ships are still being pirated."

He said ships were still sailing close to the Somali coast without maintaining a lookout in pirate-prone waters.

"You have to ask yourself why this is happening and why there is a disconnect between what the industry leaders are doing and what's happening at the crew level," Wilson told The Media Line.

The hijacking of the Sirius Star 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombassa in Kenya marks a notable escalation in piracy range and capability. Diverting ships all around Africa, rather than going through the Horn of Africa, is not only costly, but is also no longer a safe solution.

"This is why the attack on the Sirius Star is so significant," Wilson said. "Apart from the fact that it's an oil tanker, carrying oil cargo destined for the American economy, it's important because it represents a threat to a route that was previously safe."