A Taiwanese fishing vessel suspected of being hijacked in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius has been confirmed safe, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
The Feng Guo No. 168 arrived in the Mauritian capital Port Louis on Sunday afternoon with all 14 crew confirmed safe, said Samuel Chen (陳士良), director-general of the Department of African Affairs.
“It was misidentified as a piracy case at first because the vessel’s 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 contacted their families and the boat owner after reaching Port Louis, Chen said.
The ministry said it was informed by the Fisheries Agency at noon on Wednesday last week that the boat, which is registered in Donggang (東港), Pingtung County, could have been hijacked in Mauritius’ Exclusive Economic Zone.
The case was reported as the most southerly hijacking by Somali pirates since the EU’s anti-piracy mission began in late 2008.
EU Naval Force Somalia, which was established to fight Somali piracy, protects vessels and monitors fishing activities off the coast of Somalia, had reported the boat as safe on Friday after sending out a false report the previous day saying the vessel had been hijacked.
Ministry spokesman James Chang (章計平) said on the same day that the ministry was still unsure whether the boat had been hijacked by pirates or its own crew.
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