Landing the Big One

Landing the Big One

Friday, April 06, 2012

Somali Pirates: Iran Navy Rescues Crew of Chinese Ship, Captures Pirates

See initial report of hijacking here.

Now, it appears the Iranians have come to the rescue as reported in "Hijacked ship crew members rescued":
All 28 Chinese crew members aboard a China-linked cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates were rescued on Friday, the Chinese embassy in Tehran said.

The cargo ship, Xianghuamen, was hijacked by Somali pirates at about 8:40 am local time (0410 GMT) on Friday in the Sea of Oman near Iran's southern port of Chabahar.
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Nine Somali pirates climbed onto the cargo ship by their own ladders, fired shots on the ship and seized the Chinese crew members on board.

Two Iranian naval warships participating in the rescue operation followed the vessel and ordered the pirates to surrender. The pirates later threw their weapons into the sea and surrendered to the Iranian navy.

The hijacked cargo ship's engine was damaged and is in repair. Later the ship will head for the Iranian port of Gask, 70 miles (about 112 km) away from where the hijacking occurred and 200 miles (about 322 km) away from the vessel's destination.
Kudos to the Iranian Navy.

No word on the cargo of the vessel.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous2:47 PM

    Any word on a 'mother ship' for the speed boats or if the pirates came from a safe neighboring port? I don't know if they are 'somali', but who knows. They could have been Oman from their appearance.

    ReplyDelete