South Korean Navy Chases Pirated Oil Tanker

A South Korean navy destroyer is pursuing an US-bound oil supertanker believed to have been hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean off Somalia, officials said. The navy received a call yesterday from the Samho Dream supertanker saying three pirates had boarded, and then there was no more contact. The warship had been in the Gulf of Aden on anti-piracy operations, and will need to move 1,000 miles southeast to catch up to the tanker.

That could take it a little over a day, according to a military spokesman. The tanker, which was sailing from Iraq to Louisiana and is believed to be carrying more than $150 million worth of crude oil, hadn't had a security detail because pirates were not believed to be active so far from the Gulf of Aden. Five South Korean and 19 Filipino sailors are aboard.