Somali Pirates Hijacked Tanker, M/V Sirius Star, Located by GeoEye IKONOS High-Resolution Satellite Sensor

GeoEye IKONOS Satellite collects high-resolution (<1m) image on November 20th, 2008 of the hijacked supertanker Sirius Star owned by ARAMCO of Saudi Arabia. The vessel is located 5 miles off the Somalia coast at WGS-84 ECEF Latitude 4.595? North and Longitude 48.085? East. The IKONOS Satellite Image was acquired from 423 miles in space while the IKONOS satellite was moving from north to south over the East coast of Africa at 17,000 mph. (4 miles per second).

Houston, TX (Vocus/PRWEB ) November 22, 2008 -- The IKONOS satellite IKONOS Satellite sensor acquired a high-resolution satellite image of the supertanker M/V Sirius Star hijacked by Somali pirates on Saturday November 15 2008.

The brand new M/V Sirius Star supertanker, with a 25-member crew and owned by Saudi oil company Aramco, is 330 meters (1,083 feet) long, about the length of an aircraft carrier, making it one of the largest ships to sail the seas. The area lies far south of the zone where warships have increased their patrols this year in the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest channels in the world, leading to and from the Suez Canal, and the scene of most past attacks.

To view the IKONOS Satellite Image Click Here

It was the largest vessel seized yet in a surge of pirate attacks, and the farthest out to sea that the well-armed fighters, bolstered by millions in past ransoms, have successfully struck. Maritime experts warned that the broad daylight attack, reported by the U.S. Navy on Monday November 17, 2008 , was an alarming sign of the difficulty of patrolling a vast stretch of ocean key for oil and other cargo traffic and confirmed the vessel, carrying around 2million barrels of oil, has anchored off the coast of Somalia near the city of Harardera.

Remote sensing technology provides an additional security tool to monitor business assets on a global level. With the successful launch of the GeoEye-1 Satellite on September 6th, 2008 providing image resolutions of 0.5m, more information can be analyzed and Rush security tasking collections become faster than ever.

For GeoEye-1 Satellite Sensor specifications Click Here.

About Satellite Imaging Corporation

Satellite Imaging Corporation provides new and archived high and medium resolution satellite imagery for security, geospatial and many industry applications using commercial satellites including, IKONOS, GeoEye-1, QuickBird, ASTER, ALOS, SPOT-5 and others sensors.

For more information about IKONOS or GeoEye-1 satellite imaging products and satellite tasking services for security and other applications, please contact;

Satellite Imaging Corporation
12777 Jones Road, Suite 370
Houston, TX 77070-4671
USA

Toll Free: (866) 283-2952 (US and Canada only)
Tel: (1) 832-237-2900
Fax: (1) 832-237-2910
E-mail: info @ satimagingcorp.com
Website: http://www.satimagingcorp.com

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