A hijacked Saudi-owned supertanker carrying more than $100 million worth of crude oil is believed to have anchored off Somalia. Therefore, its owners are working toward the safe and speedy return of the 25 crew, they declared on Tuesday. It seems that the pirates seized the vessel some 480 miles off the coast of Somalia. The boat is called Sirius Star and earlier reports mentioned that is had been hijacked off the Kenyan coast.

However, the owners did not mention that negotiations with the hijackers have started. The supertanker is the largest ship known to have been seized by pirates. Vela International, owner of the vessel, said that the company’s main concern is to ensure the safety of the crew, composed of 2 British, 2 Polish, 1 Croatian, 1 Saudi and 19 Philippines nationals.

Even if the supertanker’s exact location near the Somali coast was not clear, in the past most pirates have brought hijacked vessels to a stretch of coastline between Eyl in the north to Harradera region in the south. In the past few weeks, there have been increasing attacks over vessels, but this is the first time the pirates have seized a loaded oil tanker. However, negotiations with pirates have often taken weeks or even months. For example, a Ukrainian vessel hijacked in September, loaded with tanks and other heavy weapons, is still being held at Hobyo on the Somali coast, where the ship’s crew is still captive.

The payments that the pirates can get in this case range from $500,000 to $2 million. The pirates’ profits should reach a record of $50 million in 2008, Somali officials say. If you ask yourself why do they get paid, it can be said that the sums are pretty low compared to the value of the ships. The pirates are often armed with automatic weapons, travel in speedboats equipped with satellite phones and GPS equipment. Furthermore, the location of the latest attack, far out to sea, suggests that the pirates may be expanding their range in an effort to avoid the multinational naval patrols now plying the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.