Pirates hijack another ship off Africa

The Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship Delight and its 25-person crew were captured late this morning off the coast of Yemen, China's New China News Agency reported, citing the official Maritime Search and Rescue Center. It was hauling 36,000 metric tons of wheat to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, the news service reported.

U.S. forces in the Middle East confirmed the hijacking but could provide no further details.

Meanwhile, the 1,000-foot-long Sirius Star, a massive oil tanker hijacked by suspected Somali pirates Saturday, was moored off the central coast of Somalia, the boat's operator said. The ship was anchored today several miles off the coast within sight of a Somali fishing region considered a haven for seafaring bandits, the U.S. military in the Middle East said.

"The ship is anchored off the coast near Harardhere, a traditional pirate stronghold," said U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the 5th Fleet, based in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain.

Piracy in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden has become a menacing scourge, threatening shipping lanes and driving up insurance costs. The pirates often stage maritime heists from Somalia, a lawless land with a weak central government facing a violent insurgency by Islamists. Using speedboats that swarm the targets, the machine-gun-toting Somali pirates take control of merchant ships and then hold the vessels, crew and cargo for ransom.

Officials of the Saudi Arabian company operating the Sirius Star scrambled to secure the crew, the $120-million ship and up to 2 million barrels of oil worth more than $100 million.

"Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew," Salah B. Kaaki, president and chief executive officer of Dubai-based Vela International Marine Ltd., operator of the Saudi-owned ship, said in a news release.

Vela said the tanker's 25-person crew includes 19 Filipinos, two Britons, two Poles, a Saudi and a Croat.

"We are in communication with their families and are working toward their safe and speedy return," Kaaki was quoted as saying

The announcement said the company is awaiting further contact from the pirates in control of the vessel, which maritime experts say might have been the largest ship ever hijacked.

U.S. forces dispatched warships to monitor the Ukrainian-flagged merchant ship Faina, which was loaded with tanks and other weapons, after it was seized by Somali pirates in September. The ship is still under control of pirates. But Christensen said neither the U.S. nor other Western forces in the region anticipated dispatching warships to monitor either of the recently seized boats.

"The Faina represents a clear and present danger and a direct threat should the weapons and cargo fall into the wrong hands," he said in a telephone interview.

Daragahi is a Times staff writer.

daragahi@latimes.com