Among a 25-member multinational crew held captive by Somali
militiamen for nearly four months were three Chinese sailors who
arrived safely in Shanghai Monday afternoon.
The men, Jin Hongji, Yuan Zhengnan and Li Taimin arrived at
Pudong International Airport after a flight from Dubai, capital of
the United Arab Emirates, according to officers at the Pudong
Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection Station.
The seamen, who are in their 40s, are from the Yanbian Korean
Autonomous Prefecture in northeast China's Jilin Province. They were due to take a train
home late today, said police. ?
The trio, members of China's Korean ethnic minority, briefed the immigration
police on their ordeal though details were few because of their
limited knowledge of Mandarin.
One sailor said, "All three of us at one point wrote down our
last words. During our captivity we were desperate. Now we are
grateful that our country never gave up on us and finally helped us
home."
Shots at sea
The men were crew members on the 361-ton Dongwon-ho 628 off the
Somalian coast on April 4 when it was seized by eight militiamen
who approached the vessel in speedboats firing their weapons.
Also on board were eight South Koreans, nine Indonesians and
five Vietnamese, according to the Associated Press. The crew was
hired by South Korea's Dongwon Fisheries Co Ltd who own the fishing
vessel.??
The Chinese sailors said they were fishing in international
waters when they were seized by the militiamen who accused the crew
of fishing illegally and suspected there might be pirates on board.
Piracy is common along Somalia's coast and some militias conduct
patrols on their own, according to Reuters.
The sailors told Shanghai officers that the Somali militiamen
cut off all their communication with the outside world and fed them
only meager meals but they were not otherwise mistreated. During
their nearly four months in captivity they'd not been allowed to
change their clothes, they said.
The crew was freed after the gunmen were paid more than
US$400,000 Reuters quoted Andrew Mwangura of the Seafarer
Assistance Program, an east African maritime organization, as
saying.
The three Chinese sailors received new clothing, food and other
care from Chinese diplomatic workers who met them at Kenya's
Mombasa Port last Saturday. They told police they'd rest for a
couple of months then look for more fishing work.
(Shanghai Daily August 8, 2006)