Chinese Ambassador to Iran Yu Hongyang (C) talks over the phone with He Feng, the captain of the rescued cargo ship XIANG HUA MEN from Tehran, April 6, 2012. All 28 Chinese crewmembers aboard the Chinese cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates were rescued today by the Iranian navy.
Photo: He Guanghai / Xinhua
Iranian navy has freed the Chinese freighter “XIANG HUA MEN” hijacked by Somali pirates off Iranian port city of Chabahar on Friday and arrested all the hijackers, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
"Through the successful mission of Iranian naval forces, the ship was released and nine pirates were arrested," said Saeed Izadiyan, a port official at Chabahar [Fars, 6 April].
The Chinese Embassy in Tehran has told Xinhua that Iran has vowed that its navy will rescue the hijacked Chinese freighter “XIANG HUA MEN” and its 28 crewmembers [the Iranian media has yet to report on the country’s reaction to the hijacking].
The ship was hijacked on Friday morning at 0930 local time near the Iranian port of Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman. The freighter was headed for BIK (Bandar Imam Khomeini) in the Persian Gulf when it was hijacked.
Iranian navy said it has found the whereabouts of the hijacked ship, which is already within the visibility of at least one Iranian warship sent for rescue operations, Chinese embassy reported.
Sources: Xinhua, ChinaDaily / 6 April 2012
The China Maritime Search and Rescue Center reports that 28 crewmembers were on board the Chinese freighter “XIANG HUA MEN” when it was hijacked by the pirates off Iranian coast near the port of Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman. All crewmembers are Chinese nationals. The number of pirates involved is still unknown. [agile-news.com].
The freighter was reportedly carrying a load of 16,000 tons of steel and heavy equipment from Shanghai to BIK (Bandar Imam Khomeini) in the Persian Gulf. The vessel was scheduled to reach BIK on 8 April.
Iranian naval vessels are now reportedly within 0.5 nautical miles from the hijacked freighter.
The freighter was hijacked today at position 25-28N 057-32E at 0555 UTC.
File Photo: XIANG HUA MEN / MarineTraffic.com
