The hijacked Chinese fishing vessel is being held off the coast of the southern Somalia port city of Kismanyu, while the 24 crew members on board are "fine," a pirate leader told local radio in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, Friday.
The pirate leader, who did not identify himself, told local Shabelle radio, that his group abducted the Chinese ship 30 miles (48.2 kilometers) off the coast of southern Somali port city of Kismanyu, 500 km south of the Somali capital Mogadishu, late Thursday afternoon.
The leader of the pirates holding the ship claimed that the vessel was fishing off the Somali territorial waters adding that the ship and crew "will be put before the law and punished accordingly."
But a source with the Chinese Ministry of Transport said the ship named Tianyu No. 8, was fishing off the Kenyan coast when it was abducted by unidentified persons.
The source told Xinhua that the abductors demanded the Chinese fishing boat sail towards the coastal area off southern Somalia.
Onboard the abducted ship of Tianjin Ocean Fishing Company were 24 fishers. They were 16 Chinese, including one from China's Taiwan province, one Japanese, three Filipinos and four Vietnamese.
The 24 crew members aboard the abducted ship are "fine", the Somali pirate leader said.
It is the first time pirate activities, which have usually been endemic in northern and northeastern Somali coast, were reported off the southern Somali coast.
Pirates, who claim that they are protecting Somali national resources from illegal fishing and waste dumping, often contact local media to say "that they have captured" ships fishing off the coast of Somalia and to state their demands for ransom.
The pirates holding the Chinese ship said that they will speak about their demands "at a later time."
Somalia has one of the most dangerous coast in the world where numerous international maritime forces are deployed to fight piracy off the coast of the war-torn Horn of African country.
Source: Xinhua
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