Pirates have hijacked a Greek-owned oil tanker carrying 135,000 metric tonnes of crude oil while in the Arabian Sea, the first successful attack on an oil tanker off the Horn of Africa in more than a year.The vessel’s manager, Dynacom Tankers Management, said it had lost contact with the crew of the MT Smyrni, a Suezmax-class tanker, following the attack off Oman at 1115 GMT on Thursday.“The Liberian-flagged Tanker, the M/T SMYRNI, is carrying a cargo of 135,000 MT of crude oil,” it said.Suezmax tankers typically can transport a crude oil cargo of up to 1 million barrels, compared with 2 to 3 million barrels for very large oil tankers.Dynacom gave no further details but Kenya-based piracy expert Andrew Mwangura said the vessel was headed for the Somali coastline. Industry websites said the vessel had sailed from Turkey, but there were mixed reports about its destination.“Aboard are nine Indians and about eight Filipinos,” Mwangura, who is maritime editor of Somalia Report, said.“It is headed to Somalia,” he added.OceanUSlive.Org, a social networking site for the maritime industry, said the attack was one of four to have taken place in the Arabian Sea in the past few days after a lull in pirate activity.
