China has warned domestic shipping lines to keep away from the area where Somali pirates hijacked a China Cosco Holding Co’s bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean two days ago.
China is trying to rescue the 25 crew members of the hijacked ship and
has deployed its navy, the Ministry of Transport said on its Web site
today.
Somali pirates captured De Xin Hai, a Panamax bulk ship moving more
than 70,000 tons of coal from South Africa to India, on Oct. 19. The
ship, which hadn’t registered with naval forces in the area, was
hijacked 550 nautical miles (1,020 kilometers) northeast of the
Seychelles islands and 700 nautical miles east of Somalia, the European
Union said in a statement.
The vessel was 1,080 nautical miles southeast of China’s navy force, which was on an escort mission in the area.
Qingdao Ocean Shipping Co., a unit of China Cosco Holding Co., took
delivery of De Xin Hai in September 2008, according to the company’s
Web site.
Source: Bloomberg
