MOMBASA, Kenya – Yesterday, the surviving crew of the Taiwanese vessel, Ching Fong Hwa No. 168, shared their experience after being kidnapped by Somali rebels for roughly seven months. The vessel and its fourteen crew members were first seized by 15 armed Somali pirates in April. One crew member was shot in the back and another, 32-year old Chen Tao from China, was killed when negotiations with the ship owner halted. The body of the murdered crew member was placed in the ship’s freezer.

In the end, the ship was released by the pirates on Nov. 5th after an unspecified ransom was paid to the kidnappers in October. According to the captain of the ship, Xinshen Ling, the pirates demanded $1.5 million. When the pirates demanded more money, the US Navy intervened and pressured the release of the ship and its crew. Upon release, the vessel was escorted out of Somali waters and safely to Kenya. There, the crew received food and medical assistance for the injuries they suffered due to the occasional beatings by the pirates.

Somalia is one of the world’s most dangerous shipping lanes. Twenty-six ships have been seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia this year, although deaths are rare, according to the East Africa Seafarers’ Assistance Program. Only two ships, a cargo ship registered in Comoros and a Japanese-owned chemical tanker, remain under pirate control.

For more information please see:

Reuters: Africa- Taiwanese Ship Freed by Pirates Arrives in Kenya – 14 November 2007

Reuters: Africa- Somali Pirates Killed Chinese Sailor- Official  – 15 November 2007

Yahoo News (AP) – Survivors of Somali pirate attack speak – 15 November 2007