Somali pirates can locate ships without need for London mole

Subscription to Lloyd's List, a contact in Suez or snoops at refuelling depots in UAE all help pinpoint vessel's position

You would hardly need to be the most devious criminal mind to work out where a tanker laden with valuable cargo may be positioned at any given moment.

If reports from Spain are true and Somali pirates had a London shipping contact supplying them with precise information to target which tankers to hijack, they may have cultivated an insider at a London shipbrokers. That is because, every Monday, London brokers compile a list detailing the exact positions of all tankers sailing in the world. The time-consuming task involves phoning every ship owner and is carried out so that brokers can work out when ships become free.

Some, however, dispute the claim that brokers are in league with pirates. One shipping source suggested London brokers were "too busy and too well paid" to get involved with Somali pirates.

A simple subscription to Lloyd's List, the leading shipping transport newspaper and website, would supply a welter of information as to a tanker's location.

There are also easier ways to assess which ship to capture. If you wanted a valuable cargo the easiest thing to do would be to have a contact in Fujairah, one of the seven emirates in the UAE on the Persian Gulf, where oil-laden ships refuel, according to shipping contacts.

Alternatively, a mole in a Suez canal shipping office would have access to which ships pass through the canal. Ships book their passage through the canal ahead of time to ensure they are not delayed. A Suez insider would be able to gain information about where tankers are heading.

London is a world centre for shipping. Many international shipping groups have their headquarters there, including the International Maritime Organisation.

The Baltic Exchange, the established and self-regulated global marketplace for shipbrokers, provides an online exchange for ships and cargo, real-time freight derivative trading and freight market data.

The Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit provides instant data to the shipping market from any location in the world.

Source: The Guardian