Iranian Navy Rescues Chinese Cargo Ship At China's Request
Sources: AFP/IMB/SomaliaReport
BEIJING: The Iranian navy has freed 28 Chinese crew members less than a day after their cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates off the Islamic Republic’s south coast, Chinese state media said Saturday.
 |
|
Hijacked/Released Xiang Hua Men - MarineTraffic.com
|
The pirates attacked the ship, Panama-flagged Xianghuamen, early Friday in the Gulf of Oman near the Iranian port of Chabahar, clambering onto the vessel with ladders and opening fire, said the official Xinhua news agency, citing China’s embassy in Tehran. It was the latest episode of Chinese getting into trouble as the country’s firms do more business abroad — Chinese workers were kidnapped in Sudan and Egypt earlier this year, and Chinese sailors have been held captive before.
Following the hijacking Friday, China’s ambassador in Tehran, Yu Hongyang, demanded swift action from Iran, which dispatched its navy to rescue the crew. Two warships caught up late Friday with the ship, the Panama-registered Xianghuamen which belongs to a company in eastern China, and the pirates “threw their weapons into the sea and surrendered to the Iranian navy,” Xinhua said.
The ambassador had earlier urged Tehran to make the safety of the crew its “first priority”, adding that the Chinese government and foreign ministry had expressed concern about the incident. The freighter, which had set off from Singapore and was heading to a port in southwestern Iran, had its engine damaged in the attack and was being repaired, Xinhua said. It will continue to an Iranian port after repairs.
The waters of the Arabian Sea, at the northern tip of the Indian Ocean, have seen hundreds of pirate attacks in recent years, with Chinese shipping vessels routinely targeted. China has also been heavily involved in anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, and in international waters near the Gulf of Oman.
About 85 percent of China’s oil imports are routed via the Gulf of Aden and through the Indian Ocean, making the region extremely important for Chinese trade. Since 2008, China has sent 10 escort missions and more than 8,000 military personnel to the Gulf of Aden, escorting more than 4,300 vessels in the process, state-run China Daily said last year.
The piracy watchdog, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), stated that the Master of the Xianghuamen raised the alarm, activated the alert and the crew were mustered in the citadel. The pirates managed to take hostage the crewmembers and successfully hijacked the ship.
An Iranian warship responded to the alert and proceeded towards the vessel.
The Master contacted the Iranian warship via VHF radio, and requested the navy not to approach their ship due to the high risk to the crew and the death threats received from the pirates. The warship moved closer to the ship resulting in an exchange of gunfire between the pirates and the navy. The navy managed to board the ship, detaining nine pirates and saving all 28 crewmembers.
A later report by Xinhua news agency stated that one of the 28 rescued crew members of the Chinese cargo ship had been injured by a bullet shell rebounding off a wall after being fired by Somali pirates. Somalia Report, a website which reports on news specific to Somalia, confirmed that Garaad, a well-known pirate based out of Puntland was one of the nine pirates arrested. Somalia Report spoke with Garaad's cousin this morning [April 7], who stated that Garaad was one of the nine pirates arrested. Garaad was responsible for MV Blida hijack, which was subsequently released for $3.5 million.
The rescue by the Iranian naval forces is the second to occur in 4 days following the operation to release the Bolivia-flagged, Iran-owned Eglantine on April 2, hijacked in Maldivian waters March 26.
Subscribe to our newsletter. It arrives in your inbox days before the online version, and does not require a document download.
OCEANUSLive.org
Information, Security, Safety; Shared
