A Saudi supertanker hijacked by pirates with a $100 million oil cargo in the largest ever such seizure was approaching the north Somali coast on Tuesday, maritime sources said.
"Some people are saying they have spotted a huge vessel off Eyl. It must be the supertanker," Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Association, told Reuters.
The remote coastal village of Eyl, in the semi-autonomous province of Puntland, is a base for pirates who have been attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
They have driven up insurance costs, forced some ships to go round South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, secured millions of dollars in ransoms and now carried out one of the most spectacular strikes in maritime history.
The capture of Sirius Star 450 nautical miles southeast of Kenya's Mombasa port, and way beyond the Gulf of Aden where most attacks have taken place this year, is their boldest attack and the culmination of several years' increasing activity.
"The latest attack looks like a deliberate two fingers from some very bright Somalis. Anyone who describes them as a bunch of camel herders needs to think again," a Nairobi-based Somalia specialist said.
The seizure was carried out despite an international naval response, including from the NATO alliance and European Union, to protect one of the world's busiest shipping areas.
U.S, French and Russian warships are also off Somalia.
Mwangura, whose Mombasa-based group has been monitoring piracy for years, predicted the pirates would probably keep the Sirius about eight miles off Eyl, which is heavily protected.
"The world has never seen anything like this ... The Somali pirates have hit the jackpot," he said.
The U.S. navy, which broke news of Sirius' capture and said it was en route to Somalia, could not confirm its location on Tuesday. "The ship is still transiting," said a spokesman.
A pirate associate in Eyl, reached by Reuters via telephone from Puntland's main port Bosasso, said the ship was on its way to the coast, but he could not say exactly where. It may in fact dock further south than Eyl, he said, identifying himself as "Bashir".