Pirates have anchored a hijacked Saudi oil tanker off the Somali coast, as the spate of hijackings gathered pace with two more ships seized on Tuesday.

Vela International said all 25 crew on the Sirius Star - the biggest tanker ever hijacked - were said to be safe.

The vessel is carrying a cargo of 2m barrels - a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily output - worth more than $100m.

A cargo ship and a fishing vessel were the latest to join more than 90 vessels being held by the pirates in the area.

A Hong Kong cargo vessel was attacked in the early morning in the Gulf of Aden, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said. Chinese media said the ship, with a crew of 25, was carrying wheat intended for Iran.

BBC News

I think a joint task force needs to deal with these fecking $$holes, post haste. Kill them all and re-patriate all the crews, vessels and cargo. Low life scum.

Shipping safety issues are vital concerns of all nations. It seems most appropriate for groups like the United Nations should concern themselves about these issues. Hope they do, or dig up Teddy Roosevelt for help/guts, and then blast them into oblivion!

I'm in agreement, blow them arses out of the water !

Do you think it would unreasonable to charge the Saudi Government $1000 per bullet to rescue their oil tanker?

Hell, no. That's only fair.

Easy solution-escort shipping in this area-each country escorted needs to contribute to the escort service.

Send in a battle group.

What about just round up everybody-responsible if possible-their friends included too, and dump them intact in Iran?

Nupe. then they would mess with innocent civilians as sure as the sun rises in the east. They aren't happy unless they're screwing with those least able to defend themselves. You will/have of course noticed that most of these cowards and scum only pick on the weak and mostly defenseless. Never do they go up against the strongest target, oh no. Not them.

Hmmm .... can we get into that "$1000 per bullet"" thing too? It would go a long way for cold ones and pizza!

BTW, t_b, you want to dump these dudes into the middle of the Iranian army on practice day-perhaps, in front of them, you know in back of the paper targets, and their infamous mine field for cover!