THE pirate hijacking crisis off Somalia has intensified after two more vessels were attacked.
The latest incidents come as Britain called for the immediate release of hostages aboard the oil supertanker Sirius Star.
The Foreign Office said the two Britons among 25 crew being held in the giant ship were its chief engineer and second
officer.
The Saudi-owned 1,100ft tanker, fully laden with two million barrels of crude oil, anchored yesterday off the Somali coast amid reports that negotiations had started.
It came as an Iranian-operated bulk carrier, also with 25 crew, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, north of Somalia.
The 630ft Delight was bound for Bandar Abbas in Iran, carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat. Its crew, from Iran, the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Ghana, are believed to be unhurt.
And the US Navy said it had received reports that a Chinese fishing vessel, the Tian Yu, was also attacked in the same area.
The owner of the Sirius Star, Vela International Marine, said the company was awaiting further contact with the pirates.
Salah Kaaki, its president, said: "Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew. We are in communication with their families and are working toward their safe and speedy return."
Vela said the crew, which also includes two Poles, a Croatian, a Saudi and 19 from the Philippines, were believed to be safe and well.
Abdinur Haji, a fisherman in the Somali port of Harardhere, said he saw two small boats travelling out to the supertanker and 18 men – thought to be other pirates – climbing aboard with a rope ladder.
Spectators watched as a small boat carried food and qat, a narcotic leaf, to the hijacked vessel, some three miles offshore.
Bob Ainsworth, the UK armed forces minister, said the attack at the weekend, 450 miles off the African coast, was of great concern.
Speaking in Kenya, he said: "Alongside our international partners, Her Majesty's government is deeply concerned, not least because two of the crew are British. Our thoughts are with the men and their families at this difficult time. We call on those holding the men to release them immediately."
Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, called the hijacking "an outrageous act", and added: "Piracy, like terrorism, is a disease which is against everybody, and everybody must address it together."
However, spokesmen for both Nato and the US Navy said they did not have any plans to intercept the ship.
Norwegian shipping group Odfjell yesterday became the latest operator to order its 90 tankers to sail around Africa rather than risk attack in the Gulf of Aden. Terje Storeng, the group's president, said: "We will no longer expose our crew to the risk of being hijacked."
Last week, the British Navy repelled a pirate attack on a Danish cargo vessel off Somalia. HMS Cumberland sent up a helicopter to foil the armed gang after it attempted to seize the ship.
'Storming tanker is too risky – Saudis will probably pay ransom to get it back'NEGOTIATION with the pirates and the payment of a ransom is seen as the most likely option to end the Sirius Star hijacking.
Storming the supertanker is thought unlikely, because of the danger to the vessel, the crew being held hostage and the oil on board.
A third option, of doing nothing and letting the pirates sweat it out, has also been discounted because of the commercial loss, since the tanker and its cargo are each worth about £66 million.
Jim Wilson, of the international shipping weekly Fairplay, in Dubai, said he expected the vessel's Saudi owners to pay a ransom.
However, following previous practice, he did not expect them to confirm this had happened or disclose how much had been paid.
Samuel Ciszuk, a Middle East energy analyst, agreed. He said: "Due to Somalia's status as a failed state and the anarchic nature of politics in the country, the negotiators have no other option but to respond to the pirates – there is no government which can intervene."
Cyrus Mody, of the International Maritime Bureau, described the use of armed forces as problematic. He said: "Once the pirates are on a vessel, you have the risk of the crew being used as human shields or being injured in crossfire.
"There could also be damage to the ship's cargo, and very often they carry a mixed cargo – some hazardous, some not – so it is a very difficult judgment call."
Mr Wilson said any gunfire aboard the Sirius Star could ignite flammable gases, causing an explosion that would risk an environmental disaster.
However, he said the vessel and its two million barrels of crude oil were too valuable to be tied up in a lengthy stand-off.
French commandos seized six Somali pirates who had hijacked a luxury yacht in April, but the helicopter raid came after the 30 hostages had been released.
