All 28 crew members on board a Chinese cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates have been rescued by the Iranian navy, IFW reports.
The Panama-registered cargo ship Xianghuamen, belonging to Nanjing Ocean Shipping Company in eastern China, was hijacked on Friday morning, just after 8.30am local time, by nine Somali pirates in the Sea of Oman, near Iran’s southern port of Chabahar.
The ship had sailed from Shanghai, stopped in Singapore to unload and was heading for the Imam Khomeini port in Iran when it was attacked.
At least nine Somali pirates with guns and axes climbed on to the cargo ship and seized the all-Chinese crew.
The pirates then ordered the captain to head for Somalian waters.
An Iranian naval vessel followed the vessel and ordered the pirates to surrender. Pointing guns at their captives they ordered the warship to stay away and claimed 22 pirates were on board instead of nine.
The Iranian warship ignored the warning and continued to follow the cargo ship.
According to the China Daily, a second Chinese cargo vessel had intercepted the radio exchange and the crew of the Xianghuamen were able to give correct details about their captors in?Chinese, which the English-speaking pirates did not understand.
When the Iranian vessel opened fire, several of the cargo ship’s crew shut down the engines and jumped into the sea.
Under fire and unable to sail, the pirates threw their weapons into the sea and surrendered.
The Panama-registered cargo ship Xianghuamen, belonging to Nanjing Ocean Shipping Company in eastern China, was hijacked on Friday morning, just after 8.30am local time, by nine Somali pirates in the Sea of Oman, near Iran’s southern port of Chabahar.
The ship had sailed from Shanghai, stopped in Singapore to unload and was heading for the Imam Khomeini port in Iran when it was attacked.
At least nine Somali pirates with guns and axes climbed on to the cargo ship and seized the all-Chinese crew.
The pirates then ordered the captain to head for Somalian waters.
An Iranian naval vessel followed the vessel and ordered the pirates to surrender. Pointing guns at their captives they ordered the warship to stay away and claimed 22 pirates were on board instead of nine.
The Iranian warship ignored the warning and continued to follow the cargo ship.
According to the China Daily, a second Chinese cargo vessel had intercepted the radio exchange and the crew of the Xianghuamen were able to give correct details about their captors in?Chinese, which the English-speaking pirates did not understand.
When the Iranian vessel opened fire, several of the cargo ship’s crew shut down the engines and jumped into the sea.
Under fire and unable to sail, the pirates threw their weapons into the sea and surrendered.