(CBS/AP) It seems inconceivable: How can Somali pirates in speedboats foil warships from the world's most powerful navies in order to prey on shipping lanes crucial to the oil supply? The short answer - it's a big ocean and no one wants to be top cop.

NATO and the U.S. Navy say they can't cover everywhere, and American officials are urging ships to buy private security. Warships patrolling off Somalia have succeeded in stopping some pirate attacks as they happen. But outright military assaults to wrest free a ship are highly risky.

Yet when pirates took their biggest prize yet over the weekend - a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million worth of crude oil - it raised the stakes dramatically. The pirates struck hundreds of miles off the coast of East Africa, far out to sea where ships had presumed they were safe.

Governments, navies, oil companies and ship owners are scrambling for solutions, and finding few options are ideal. At least one private security company said it has been flooded with requests from shipping companies for protection, including from Saudis.

A major Norwegian shipping group on Tuesday ordered its more than 90 tankers to sail around Africa rather than use the Suez Canal after Somali pirates seized the Saudi supertanker.

The U.S. and other naval forces decided against intervening in the seizure of the supertanker. The pirates captured an Iranian cargo ship Tuesday, the seventh vessel seized in 12 days.

The capture of the Saudi Sirius Star opened up an entirely new front further out in the Indian Ocean - nearly as far from the Gulf of Aden as Paris is from Moscow. It signalled a threat to another key route, one that rounds Africa's southern tip and is used by vessels too large to traverse the Suez Canal with full cargos.

"Shipping companies have to understand that naval forces can not be everywhere. Self-protection measures are the best way to protect their vessels," U.S. Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of the Combined Maritime Forces under the 5th Fleet said after the Sirius Star's capture.

In Dubai there is a specialist team on alert, waiting for the pirates to make contact again. But these negotiations can be long and drawn out, reports CBS News correspondent Shelia MacVicar. A Ukrainian ship, carrying Russian tanks and weapons, that was seized in September, is still being held by Somali pirates.

For the modern-day swashbucklers, it's all about the money. And it's a growth industry. In three years, the pirates have netted an estimated $30 million. For the pirates, there are three sources of revenue from every ship seized; ransom for the crew, the cargo, and the ship itself which can be repainted, reflagged and resold.

They've invested the profits and upgraded their gear, MacVicar reports, now equipped with GPS, sophisticated communications and rocket launchers. And now they're going after bigger prizes.

"They climb the ship we're talking about an operation that would take only a few minutes," says Mustapha Al Ani, with the Gulf Research Council.

Pirates usually attack in small speedboats, using ropes and ladders to climb a ship's hull and seize the crew. Once they have a ship, military action to free it holds dangers. The pirates are trained fighters, heavily armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, and they have the crews as hostages.

Odfjell SE, the Norwegian shipping group, said it made the decision to divert its ships after pirates seized the Saudi Arabian supertanker hundreds of miles off the coast of Kenya, the most brazen attack yet by Somalian pirates.

"We will no longer expose our crew to the risk of being hijacked and held for ransom by pirates in the Gulf of Aden," said Terje Storeng, Odfjell's president and chief executive. "Unless we are explicitly committed by existing contracts to sail through this area, as from today we will reroute our ships around Cape of Good Hope."

The Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, connects to the Red Sea, which in turn is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. The route is thousands of miles and many days shorter than going around the Cape of Good Hope off the southern tip of Africa.

"This will incur significant extra cost, but we expect our customers' support and contribution," said Storeng.

"Odfjell is frustrated by the fact that governments and authorities in general seem to take a limited interest in this very serious problem," he added, describing the seizures as "ruthless, high-level organized crime."

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Back To Top