Pirates seize US-bound oil tanker off coast of Oman

Armed pirates seized a US-bound oil tanker carrying Kuwaiti crude off the coast of Oman, the ship's Greek manager said on Wednesday, in an area where Somali seaborne gangs operate. 

The Very Large Crude Carrier, the Irene SL, was carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil, worth roughly $200 million at market prices.    

"This morning the vessel was attacked by armed men," Greece-based company Enesel said in a statement sent to Reuters, confirming earlier reports from shipbrokers. "For the moment there is no communication with the vessel."     

International navies have struggled to contain piracy in the Indian Ocean as a result of the vast distances involved as Somali gangs make millions of dollars in ransoms.                                           

On Tuesday, pirates firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades hijacked an Italian oil tanker in the Indian Ocean and diverted the medium-sized vessel toward Somalia.                                            

Somali pirates are increasingly using hijacked merchant vessels with hostage crews as giant motherships to attack deeper into the Indian Ocean, the European Union anti-piracy task force said last month.                                           

A study showed that maritime piracy costs the global economy between $7 billion and $12 billion a year, with Somali piracy in particular driving up the cost of shipping through the Indian Ocean.    

Pirates last year received a record $9.5 million ransom for the release of the Samho Dream South Korean oil tanker.