The MV Sirius Star, an oil tanker owned and operated by Vela International Marine which has a length overall of 1,090 feet (330 metres), a beam of 200 ft (60 metres) and a capacity of 2.2 million barrels (350,000 cubic metres) of crude oil, made the record books by being the largest ship ever hijacked when Somali pirates captured it on 15 November 2008.
Vela is based in the United Arab Emirates and is a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian state oil company Saudi Aramco. Sirius Star is one of Vela's 24 tankers, of which 19 are VLCCs. Since its launch, the ship has been registered under the Liberian flag and home-ported in Monrovia.
Sirius Star was built by the South Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The ship's construction began in October 2007 and it was launched in late March 2008.
When hijacked the ship was en route from Saudi Arabia to the United States by way of the Cape of Good Hope. At the time of the attack, it was about 450 nautical miles (520 miles; 830 km) southeast of the coast of Kenya, carrying 25 crewmen and its tanks fully loaded with oil. The ship was estimated to be worth approximately US$150 million, with its cargo worth at least US$100 million. Sirius Star was released by the Somalis on 9 January 2009, after the payment of a US $3 million dollar ransom.
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