Hijacked Crew of Fishing Vessel Rescued After 18 Months of Pirate Control

Ma’anshan, is one of the Chinese warships deployed in recent years to escort Chinese cargo ships in the Indian Ocean.

(Bloomberg) — China secured the release of a 26- man crew aboard a Taiwanese fishing boat that was captured by Somali pirates more than 18 months ago, the Foreign Ministry said.

The crew of 13 Chinese, 12 Vietnamese and one from Taiwan was rescued yesterday and taken to Tanzania by Chinese naval vessels on patrol in the Gulf of Aden, the ministry said yesterday in a statement on its website.

The statement didn’t give details of the rescue operation or say if a ransom was paid for the ship, which was captured in December 2010. China has deployed warships to help international efforts to protect sea lanes from pirates off the Somali coast.

– Regina Tan, Copyright 2012, Bloomberg

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