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A Chinese ship with 146 people aboard was hijacked Monday in the Indian Ocean, the European Union Naval Force said.
The bulk carrier De Xin Hai was hijacked around noon about 550 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles and 700 nautical miles off Somalia's eastern coast, the EU Naval Force said in a statement.
The EU force found the ship not long afterward. Two pirates could be seen on deck, but as many as 20 could be on board, a task force spokesman said.
The 146 people on board included 25 Chinese crew members, said John Harbour, a commander with the British Royal Navy who serves with the EU Naval Force.
The naval force was monitoring the ship's movements Monday afternoon.
The ship was dragging two skiffs behind it, much like the kind of skiffs that pirates have been known to use to hijack ships in the waters off Somalia.
De Xin Hai 76,431 DWT, Bulk Carrier, Built 2008
Owners/Managers are COSCO Qingdao, Built at Jiangnan S.Y., Peoples' Republic of China Flagged, Length Overall of 225.00 m., Length Between Perpendiculars of 217.00 m., Draught of 12.20 m., Beam of 32.26 m., Gross Tonnage of 40,892.
Owner/Manager Details
Qingdao Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO Qingdao), Yiyuanyang Building, No.61 Xianggang Middle Rd., Qingdao, Shandong, China P.R., 266071,
Additional information
IDENTIFICATION: Panamax Bulker, Call Sign BQBP, IMO Number 9364758. DIMENSIONS/TONNAGES: Moulded Depth of 19.60 m., Tonnage of 25,841 International Net and 75,224 Dwt (long). ENGINE DETAILS: 1 Propellor.
Originally posted by kiwifoot
I find it odd that the Ship has 146 people on board, 121 non crew.
Why would a bulk carrier have so many people on board, or does anyone know if that is normal? I mean for a cargo ship to have so many passengers.
75,224 D(ead) W(eight) T(onnage) makes this a medium sized Bulk Carrier, although we don't know what size cargo, if any, it was carrying at this point.
Originally posted by kiwifoot
reply to post by Hazelnut
My bet is they'll want to show the world how they flex their military muscles, all over TV.
Originally posted by Hazelnut
reply to post by Signals
I'm glad you said it because it is what I was thinking too.
I suspect the Chineese will not want to let this crisis go unused. It seems to be common practice among world powers these days.
BEIJING: China will make every effort to rescue the crew and the hijacked bulk carrier, the De Xin Hai, from pirates in the Indian Ocean, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Tuesday.
Ma told a regular press conference that the Chinese government was closely monitoring developments with the ship.
The Chinese vessel was hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean early Monday, with 25 Chinese crew aboard.
European Union (EU) naval force spokesman John Harbour confirmed on Monday that the 25 Chinese were taken hostage by Somali pirates, but they seemed to be fine.
Ma said the Chinese Foreign Ministry and other government departments immediately started an emergency response procedure.
Chinese embassies and consulates have received instructions to gather and review information about the incident.
Ma said the Foreign Ministry had issued a warning to Chinese ships and citizens to avoid crossing the waters where the hijacking occurred.
"We will watch closely developments in the incident and make every effort to rescue the hijacked crew and carrier," Ma said
Counting these 25 new hostages from the bulk carrier, the total number of hostages held by pirates at the Somali Coastline has reached 146, the EU naval force said.