The hijacking of a Saudi Arabian supertanker by Somali pirates last weekend has prompted a generous number of eye-patch, peg-leg, parrot-on-shoulder and keg-of-rum jokes. Arrr.

But renegade gangs of heavily armed bandits making off with $100 million in crude oil is really no laughing matter.

“What this event now injects into the market is another way for oil supplies to be held hostage, and that’s never a good situation,” said Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at Oil Price Information Services.

Brockwell said the oil supply chain is always vulnerable to disruptions by events such as refinery fires, pipeline explosions, and geopolitical incidents. Piracy simply adds to that list, he said.

The U.S. Navy said the seizing of the oil tanker Sirius Star off the coast of Kenya on Saturday marked a new level of audacity for the pirates both in terms of the size of the vessel and its distance from shore when the attack occurred.

On Tuesday the pirates anchored the ship off the Somali coast, and international authorities said they would not intervene with Somali authorities attempting to negotiate a resolution.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported the hijacking Tuesday of another cargo ship in the same waters of the eastern coast of Africa. A 26,000-ton bulk cargo carrier was attacked in the Gulf of Aden, according to the report.

Brockwell said an increase in piracy could force tanker operators to alter their routes in order to avoid areas where pirates are operating.

“I hope it doesn’t divert cargoes to lengthen the supply chain. It’s already too long,” he said.

The hijacking of the Sirius Star did not impact the price of crude oil on international futures markets when news of the incident broke on Monday. But if the daring move is “copycatted, it adds another measure of uncertainty” that could eventually affect global prices, said Brockwell.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Tuesday called the hijacking “an outrageous act” and compared piracy to terrorism, according to the AP. But the prince did not offer specifics on what his country will do to retrieve the Sirius Star and its crew of 25.

The Dubai-based company that owns and operates the vessel, Vela International Marine, a unit of Saudi oil company Aramco, was expected to issue a statement on Tuesday.

The company said in an earlier statement that the crew was unharmed and that a crisis team had been established to negotiate a settlement.

Maritime experts say that not only are the number of piracy incidents growing, but that the pirates reach in international waters has expanded, as well.

There has been a call for increased presence of military vessels in commercial shipping routes. In addition, if the piracy trend continues, shipping companies will be forced to expand their security forces.