Beijing: China said on Sunday that its state media report of a Chinese-flagged commercial ship being hijacked by pirates off the coast of Yemen was not correct and that the ship was safe.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency on Sunday cited a Chinese military attaché in Yemen as saying the Hong Kong-registered Tien Hau had been attacked by Somali pirates. But the China Marine Rescue Centre later said the report was wrong and the ship was simply followed by a suspicious-looking vessel and not hijacked.
The centre said the Tien Hau with 22 people aboard was now under the escort of China's Navy, which is part of a multinational anti-piracy effort patrolling one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Piracy off Somalia has flourished since the African nation's government collapsed in 1991.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, February 06, 2011, 09:59