The emergence of Somali piracy has recently been brought to the forefront of the international community's attention with the hijacking of a Saudi crude oil super tanker that is said to be the largest hijack ever recorded in piracy. The Saudi super tanker named the 'Sirius Star' carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil worth an estimated $100 million was attacked and obtained by Somali pirates within 16 minutes. The pirates have demanded a ransom of $25 million in cash to release the super oil tanker which was hijacked on the 15th of November in the Indian Ocean just off the coast of southern Somalia, and is now said to be held in the northern area of Harardhere. They have set a period of 15 days to receive the ransom from Saudi Aramco, the Saudi oil company which owns the Sirius Star. Piracy has been rampant in Somalia over the last decade, dating back to the instability the country faced during the civil war in the beginning of the early 1990s.

Yet it is only in the past year that this drastic rise in Somali piracy has gained any news coverage, with the estimated successful possession of at least 60-100 foreign vessels including Iranian [wheat], Ukrainian [arms] and Malaysian [petrochemical] shipping. These Somali pirates seem to be wreaking havoc on the international marine and shipping community by monopolizing their post on the gulf of Eden with its busy red sea shipment route to the sum of millions of dollars per 'random' hijack.

Reported to have gained over $20 million US dollars just within the past 12 months alone, these pirates are described as shrewd exfishermen who know the sea's and purposefully target big ships and tankers for the largest pay out possible. Armed with rocket propelled grenades and machine guns these pirates have shown how lucrative modern piracy can be, asking for million dollar ransom's for the release of the ships and their crews. Helping attract the interest of gunmen and war lords alike from across the span of Somalia to their well paid crusade, already a 1,000 men strong, these ex fishermen are steadily gaining numbers in both men and weaponry. They unsuspectingly came into possession of what was later disclosed as a Ukrainian arms vessel filled with $30 million worth of heavy weaponry on its way to southern Sudan via the gulf of Eden which has sparked fears over the addition to the pirates already growing fire power.