The Ukrainian cargo vessel, Faina which was hijacked by Somali pirates on Thursday has been surrounded by US warships and helicopters. The US government believes that the Faina, which is transporting military equipment, including 33 T-72 tanks, munitions, grenade launchers and other armaments is intended for Sudan and not Kenya as previously thought.
Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, a deputy spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says US destroyers and cruisers have been deployed to within 16 kilometers of the Faina. Helicopters were also circling the vessel. Christensen says that although initial reports indicated that the ship was headed for the Kenyan port of Mombasa, further information leads them to believe that Sudan is the final destination.
There is currently a US arms embargo in place on weapons headed to Sudan's Darfur conflict region. The embargo does not cover sales to Khartoum or partially independent Southern Sudan, however.
Press TV's Somalia correspondent reports that the US government has accused Kenya of knowing the final destination of the shipment. Meanwhile, Kenyan officials have declined to discuss the matter.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman, Valentyn Mandriyevsky, said the ministry was not trading in weapons and is not privy to the final destination of the cargo.
The ship-jackers, who have already reduced their ransom demand from 35 million dollars to 20 million are in standard bridge-to-bridge communication with the US navy.