Somali Pirates Could Force Shipping Detours

The pirates who seized the Sirius Star have reportedly brought their massive prize to anchor off the coast of Somalia, the BBC reports. The Saudi oil tanker’s entire 25-person crew is believed to be safe, but the consequences for international shipping may be far-reaching, Roger Middleton writes in the Times of London. 

The pirates have never before attacked a ship as large and fast as the Sirius Star, and the growing threat may cause shipping companies to divert around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid them. That would add shipping time, which consumers will have to pay for. And the pirates are only getting more sophisticated, reinvesting ransom money in technology that enables them to attack faster and larger ships.
(More Somalia stories.)