Pirates attack Saudi 'super tanker'

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CNN) -- Pirates in the Arabian Sea have hijacked a Saudi-owned oil tanker with 25 crew aboard, the U.S. Navy and the British Foreign Office confirmed on Monday.

The Sirius Star -- a crude "super tanker" flagged in Liberia and owned by the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco company -- was attacked on Saturday more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, the statement said. The crew include British, Croatian, Polish, Filipino and Saudi nationals.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed two Britons were aboard and said it was seeking more information about the incident.

A multinational naval force including vessels from the U.S., the UK and Russia has been patrolling the seas near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, following a sharp increase in pirate attacks in the region.

On Sunday pirates seized a 20,000-ton Japanese cargo ship off the coast of Somalia. A Russian patrol ship also thwarted an attack on a Saudi vessel.

Eleven vessels are currently being held by pirates hoping to secure ransoms for their release, according to The Associated Press. They include the Ukrainian-owned MV Faina, which was hijacked in September along with 200 crew and a cargo of weapons and T-72 tanks.

Ninety percent of ships transiting the perilous seas are using a guarded corridor and there have been no hijackings inside the zone since it was set up on August 22, Danish Commodore Per Bigum Christensen told AP last week.

Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year.

"Our presence in the region is helping deter and disrupt criminal attacks off the Somali coast, but the situation with the Sirius Star clearly indicates the pirates' ability to adapt their tactics and methods of attack" said U.S. Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of the Combined Maritime Forces.

"Piracy is an international crime that threatens global commerce. Shipping companies have to understand that naval forces can not be everywhere. Self protection measures are the best way to protect their vessels, their crews, and their cargo."