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Aramco hoping to hear from oil tanker pirates Weds

Aramco hoping to hear from oil tanker pirates Weds

Write: Portia [2011-05-20]
DUBAI - Saudi Aramco hopes to hear from pirates who hijacked a supertanker with an oil cargo worth $100 million later on Wednesday, a spokesman for the company's shipping arm said.

"We are still waiting for contact," the spokesman for Aramco unit Vela International told Reuters. "We are hoping the pirates will contact us sometime today."

Vela had no details on a ransom demand from pirates, he added.

"We don't have that information as we didn't have contact," he said.

Vela said in a statement on Tuesday that it was waiting for further contact from the pirates, but has declined to give details on any previous contact.

Vela operates the Sirius Star, which is owned by Aramco. The vessel, which was fully laden with a cargo of around two million barrels, was hijacked by Somali pirates at the weekend.