BBC: Pirates have captured a giant Saudi-owned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean off the Kenyan coast.
The tanker was seized 450 nautical miles south-east of the port of Mombasa, a US Navy spokesman said.
Twenty five crew are said to be aboard the Sirius Star, including members from Croatia, the UK, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi TV report, which the US Navy and the ship's owner did not confirm, says the vessel has since been freed.
The report on the Al Arabyia channel quoted an unnamed "official" Saudi source.
A BBC correspondent in Mombasa reports that this is the third tanker to have been hijacked in the region.
It is also the largest vessel so far to come under attack by pirates in the area, the US Navy told the BBC.
The location is unusual and the capture marks a fundamental shift in tactics, the navy added.
Attacks on shipping off the Horn of Africa and Kenya by pirates, who are mostly Somali, prompted foreign navies to send warships to the area this year. >>> | November 17, 2008
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