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This week, China vowed to "make every effort" to rescue the crew of the hijacked bulk carrier, the De Xin Hai, from Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. The Chinese vessel, which is owned by the Qingdao Ocean Shipping Co. Ltd. and was carrying coal, was hijacked on 19 October with 25 crew on board, including twenty-two ship staff from Shandong province and one each from Liaoning, Hebei and Jiangsu provinces.
In addition to the De Xin Hai, the Somali pirates also hijacked a Panamanian-flagged carrier off the coast of the Seychelles, raising to seven the total number of international vessels currently in their hands. Another ship, the Italian-flagged MV Jolly Rosso, was also attacked, but evaded the hijackers without casualties. China’s response to the situation was swift. It dispatched three PLA navel vessels to the area with the intention of enforcing a military rescue of the hijacked ship and its crew. That scenario faded on Friday when the pirates successfully steered the ship to port. EU Navfor, the European Union anti-piracy force, has confirmed the ship had arrived off the coast of Somalia, and was near Hobyo. This is a standard hijacking ploy in the region, and is the next step towards forcing an opening of negotiations for a ransom payment. The Chinese naval ships have now joined vessels from NATO, the EU, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia – all of whom are deployed in an attempt to secure strategic shipping lanes and protect merchant ships from attack by increasingly sophisticated pirate operations. Since the deployment of China’s naval taskforce, military strategists have been ruminating about the government's willingness to engage force to rescue the kidnapped crew. In the last two days, Chinese state media has gone rather quiet on the issue, seemingly fearful of further raising expectations of a successful rescue raid. “Somali pirate gangs have caused havoc in the strategic waterways linking Europe with Asia, even though foreign navies patrol the area, and have made millions of dollars in ransom payments,” China Daily notes. However, details of China’s next move remain unclear. Acknowledging that the De Xin Hai “has arrived off the coast of Somalia,” the report added, guardedly, that, “It is not yet known if the pirates have contacted the owners and made their demands known.” |
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