Taipei, May 8 (CNA) A Taiwanese longline fishing boat is believed to have been hijacked by Somali pirates west of the Maldives, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Saturday in a press release.
The ministry said it was informed by the Council of Agriculture's Fishery Agency and the Coast Guard Administration late Friday that there had been no contact with the Taiyuan 227 since Thursday night. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and Malaysia-based Piracy Reporting Center were immediately appraised of the situation, the MOFA added.
The owner of the boat managed to make contact early Saturday via satellite phone with the vessel, which was sailing toward Somalia, and was asked by unknown persons on board the boat to pay a ransom, the ministry reported.
The MOFA said there are no Taiwanese crew members on the Kaohsiung-based Taiyuan 227, the third Taiwanese fishing boat to be hijacked or attacked near Somali waters in the last two months.
The Zechuhtsai, a longline fishing boat, was hijacked by Somali pirates on March 30 and another vessel, the Juimanfa, managed to escape after a three-hour chase by pirates that same day.
Relatives of the Taiwanese crew members on the Zechuntsai are still negotiating with the Somali pirates and have asked the MOFA not to interfere in the process, Samuel Chen, director-general of the ministry's Department of African Affairs, said in a press briefing Thursday.
Taiwan's representative offices in India and South Africa have been instructed to request assistance from the governments of those countries, the MOFA said.
Another Taiwanese boat, the Win Far No. 161, was released in early February after its owner paid an undisclosed sum to the Somali pirates who had hijacked the ship and had been holding its crew captive since April 6 last year. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc