Last week NATO sent out a security bulletin warning that pirates were moving to "target larger cargo / oil / gas / chemical tankers." Right on cue:

Somali pirates have nabbed their biggest prize yet - a Saudi-owned supertanker, about as big as an aircraft carrier.* The ocean-going hijackers managed to pull off this latest assault, on the Sirius Star, despite a swarm of international warships now working to ward off such strikes... The Star "held a cargo of as much as two million barrels of oil -- more than one quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily production," Reuters notes. It was hit "450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, was in an area far beyond the Gulf of Aden, where most of the attacks on shipping have taken place." Citizens of Croatia, Great Britain, the Philippines, Poland, and Saudi Arabia are among the Sirius Star's crew of 25.

Ed over at Hot Air suggests that the tanker might be used in a terror attack by running the ship aground or blowing it up in a port. I'm skeptical: they have to know that they'd get intercepted before they made it to a Western port. This seems more like "we did it to show we can" posturing in response to international anti-piracy efforts off Somalia's coast. The promise of Saudi payoff undoubtedly also played a role.

The Times of London, by the by, wants you to know that it's all Bush's fault because he tried to help Somalis resist the Islamic Courts:

Somalia had always practised a mild form of Islam, but the Courts received a bad press in the West, being widely portrayed as a new Taleban determined to impose the most draconian forms of Sharia on a terrified populace... The Courts had certainly imposed what would be seen in the West as some fairly repressive moral codes. They cracked down on the narcotic qat that rendered half the menfolk senseless, banned sexually explicit films, encouraged women to cover their heads and discouraged Western music and dancing. There had been two public executions.

For the record, the way that the Islamic Courts "encourage" female modesty and "discourage" Western dancing is by stoning 13 year old rape victims for adultery and lashing dozens of people for dancing. Their "fairly repressive" Islamic code includes murdering Christian apostates. But wouldn't it be really cool if reality was the opposite of that?

References:
* SOMALIA PIRACY UPDATE 14 November 2008 [shipping.NATO]
* Somali Pirates Nab Supertanker, Biggest Prize Yet [Danger Room]
* Pirates seize Saudi oil carrier [Hot Air]
* How the War on Terror pushed Somalia into the arms of al-Qaeda [Times Of London]
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - If You're A 13 Year Old Gang Rape Victim In Somalia, You Have To Die [MR]
* List Of Things You May Or May Not Do With The Koran Growing Increasingly Confusing [MR]
* New "Convert To Islam Or Die" Policy Replacing Old "Convert To Christianity And Die" Rules In Iraq And Pakistan [MR]

Previously:
* I'm Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - Thousands Of UK-Born Jihadists In Enclaves Across All Of Britain
* Hey Gals, Check It Out - Another Day, Another Stupid "Veil Is Empowering" Story
* We're Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - British Artists Terrified Of Muslim Lunatics, British Cops Apologizing For Muslim Lunatics