Two fishermen followed Taiwan's fishing boats "Ri Chun Cai 68" fishing in April the 1st. But the fishing vessel was hijacked by pirates in Somali waters. After nearly a month the incident happened, there was still no any information about them. Taiwan reporters yesterday got contact with the vessel’s owner's wife. She expressed her appeal to the Chinese embassies and consulates abroad to come forward and help her rescue the ship members hijacked by the pirates in Somali. At present, the incident has been reported to the provincial border relevant departments by Quanzhou government.
3 or 4 years ago, there were four fishermen also having been hijacked by Somali pirates. Even though having passed through the torment of nearly 7 months, they returned home safely. Yesterday the press got contact with one of the fishermen, Zhang Yi during last hijack. He said those scenes at that time were still fresh in his memory. He consoled the families of the abducted fishermen this time: "Generally speaking, the pirates are just for money, not wanting to hurt people actually."
【Event progress】
The Taiwanese owner’s wife asked to negotiate with the pirates.
Yesterday, the reporter got contacted with Tian Li Xue whose husband is the captain of "Ri Chun Cai 68" on the phone. She told reporters, "Ri Chun Cai 68" was hijacked by pirates on April the 1st. And soon she was informed of the matter. The last talk with the members on the board the last time was in April the 8th. At that time she asked her husband whether members on board were safe. Her husband replied: "We are all safe." Only got this sentence, she had no any phone call from the pirates.
Thereafter, Tian Li Xue had tried to get contact with some people in Somalia on behalf of her to go and negotiate with the pirates. She told those mediators that they must make every effort to ensure the safety of all persons on the board. Currently, the people she requested have been contacted with the Somali pirates. But the negotiations have not reached any results. "Somali pirates asked for a large amount of dollars. But the specific amount is not easy to be assured right now."
This is not the first time that fishermen were seized by Somali pirates. On April 18, 2007, the Taiwan fishing vessel "Ching Fong Hua 168" were hijacked by armed pirates along the coast of Somalia. During that hijack, there are 15 crew members on board, four from Hui'an, Taiwan. They were released after torment of almost 7 months.