Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) A Taiwanese fishing vessel suspected of being hijacked in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius has been confirmed safe, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Monday.
The "Feng Guo 168" has not been seized and arrived in the Mauritius capital Port Louis on Sunday afternoon with all 14 crew members confirmed safe, said Samuel Chen, director-general of the Department of African Affairs under the ministry.
"It was misidentified as a piracy case at first because the vessel's sailing course was strange. There were probably some quarrels between the captain and the crew, " Chen said of the boat with a Taiwanese captain, eight Vietnamese, two Indonesians and three Chinese on board. The vessel headed south to Mauritius after sailing north toward Somali waters.
The crew members contacted their families and the boat owner after reaching Port Louis, Chen said.
The ministry said it was informed by the Council of Agriculture's Fishery Agency at noon on Oct. 6 that the fishing boat, which is registered in the southern port of Tungkang, Pingtung County, could have been hijacked in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Mauritius.
The case was reported as the most southerly hijacking case by Somali pirates since the European Union's anti-piracy mission began in December 2008.
The European Union Naval Forces Somalia, which was established to fight Somali piracy, protect vessels and monitor fishing activities off the coast of Somalia, had reported the boat as safe Oct. 8 after sending out a false report the previous day saying the vessel had been hijacked.
MOFA spokesman James Chang said on the same day that the ministry was still unsure whether the boat had been hijacked by pirates or its own crew. (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc