On the morning of August 23, 2001, the Chinese distant-water fishing vessel Fuyuanyu-226, which belongs to Fuzhou Yongfeng Fishery Company, successfully arrived in the Gulf of Aden waters between Yemen and Somalia under the pilot of captain Fang Jiabai, with 18 fishermen on board, including Fang Jiabai.
Map of the location of the waters of the Gulf of Aden
The purpose of their trip was to carry out fishing operations in this area, but just as Fang Jiabai was about to beckon the crew to start fishing, there were suddenly several gunshots outside the cockpit, and Fang Jiabai's first reaction was that they encountered the notorious Somali pirates.
However, Fang Jiabai was not too worried, because as early as 7 days ago, when he drove Fuyuanyu-226 to the port of Bossaso in northern Somalia, Yongfeng Fisheries Company hired 2 Somali security guards for the ship through the International Security Company.
Subsequently, the two security guards boarded Fuyuanyu-226 for security duties, and according to the international law of the sea, the two Somali security guards can carry firearms and weapons to protect the safety of fishing vessels.
At the same time, there was also 1 Somali fishery official and 4 local crew members, who followed these 2 Somali security guards to board the Fuyuanyu-226, theoretically with the protection of these 7 people, there would be no big problem at all.
Sure enough, after a few gunshots, there was no movement, and Fang Jiabai thought that it must be the Somali security guard who scared the pirates away, and sure enough, after a while, one of the security guards entered the cockpit to find Fang Jiabai.
But before Fang Jiabai could ask what was happening outside, the Somali security guard pointed his gun at Fang Jiabai and handed Fang Jiabai a note with a string of Arabic numerals "6000000" written on it, followed by a dollar symbol.
Figure丨Somalia pirates (schematic)
At the same time, Fang Jiabai also found that the Somali fishery official and several local crew members were also walking outside the cockpit, at which time he finally understood that the 7 people were All Somali pirates, and the ransom they demanded was 6 million US dollars.
After a brief communication, Fang Jiabai learned that the other 17 fishermen had been driven to the bottom compartment of the fishing boat by the pirates and imprisoned, and the reason why the pirates left Fang Jiabai in the cockpit was to let Fang Jiabai continue to drive the fishing boat.
Subsequently, a pirate handed Fang Jiabai a coordinate - 50 degrees east longitude, 7 to 8 degrees north latitude, Fang Jiabai is too familiar with this coordinate, this is the most rampant place of Somali piracy, is one of the base camps of Somali pirates.
As long as his ship arrived there, it could only be slaughtered, but in the face of the pirate's gun threat, he did not dare to resist too much, in fact, as early as the first time he found out that it was hijacked, Fang Jiabai wanted to call out for help through the high-frequency microphone equipped on the ship.
But at that time, Fang Jiabai was just about to press the call button, he was found by the pirates, followed by a gunshot, Fang Jiabai had to stop calling for help, and this high-frequency microphone was immediately destroyed by the pirates.
Therefore, Fang Jiabai could only sail towards the established coordinates according to the requirements of the pirates, but Fang Jiabai did not give up the call for help, because there were still 17 brothers on the ship who lived with him day and night, and as the captain, he decided to take everyone home safely no matter what.
Picture 丨 China Fuyuanyu-226
At this time, Fang Jiabai thought of Fuyuanyu-225, who came to the sea with him to fish, and Fuyuanyu-225 was fishing 12 nautical miles away from him, as long as he could contact Fuyuanyu-225, there was still hope of being rescued.
So how can you get in touch with Fuyuanyu-225? At that time, there was a spare high-frequency microphone in the cabinet of Fang Jiabai's driving platform, as long as you want to find a way to get that high-frequency microphone, everything will naturally be solved.
However, if he was accidentally discovered by the pirates, not only would he no longer have the means to ask for help, but he would probably provoke the pirates and cause himself to be harmed, and Fang Jiabai decided to outsmart himself after weighing them.
Therefore, after a period of sailing, Fang Jiabai took advantage of the pirates to gradually relax his vigilance, suddenly made a fake action to attract the attention of the pirates, and then took advantage of the pirates' inattention, quickly hid the high-frequency microphone in his hand and pressed the call button.
Since the pirates were always by his side, Fang Jiabai could not directly tell Fuyuanyu-225 about his own situation, and Fang Jiabai repeated the location of the coordinates while driving the ship.
Fang Jiabai believes that with the tacit understanding of the two ships and their own "abnormal" behavior, Fuyuanyu-225 must be able to know the real situation on his side, and after a period of time, Fang Jiabai put the microphone back.
Pictured: The Chinese Navy escorts Chinese fishing boats in the Gulf of Aden
Although he did not know whether fuyuanyu-225 had received the situation on his side, he had to be fully prepared, at this time Fang Jiabai found that the pirates seemed to be unable to understand the dashboard and radar map of the fishing boat.
In order to verify his conjecture, Fang Jiabai deliberately made several actions contrary to the pirates' requirements, and the pirates did not find the catty in them, and after determining that the pirates did not know how to drive ships, Fang Jiabai's courage grew.
Fang Jiabai quietly slowed down the ship, constantly delaying the time, but after a few hours, Fang Jiabai still did not see any rescue forces, which could not help but make him feel a little desperate.
In fact, at the first time that Fang Jiabai sent a signal to Fuyuanyu-225, Liu Yongqiang, the captain of Fuyuanyu-225, guessed that Fang Jiabai's Fuyuanyu-226 encountered pirates.
Liu Yongqiang immediately reported this situation to the company, and in accordance with the company's instructions, stopped fishing operations, full speed chased Fuyuanyu-226, but chased for 2 hours and did not see Fuyuanyu-226.
At this time, Liu Yongqiang found that the Fuyuanyu-225 he was driving was about to sail to the place where piracy in Somalia was rampant, and the company immediately stopped Liu Yongqiang's chase operation, and the company was afraid that it would not rescue the Fuyuanyu-226 and then take a boat.
Picture丨 Fishing boat confronts Somali pirates (schematic)
Of course, Fang Jiabai did not know this situation at that time, just when Fang Jiabai was in a hurry, the pirates suddenly escorted his first mate to the cockpit at more than 12 noon, and asked the first officer to open the ship for Fang Jiabai, and Fang Jiabai was locked up in the bottom warehouse.
It turned out that after the 17 crew members were locked up in the warehouse, after a period of panic, they gradually calmed down, and they decided to carry out self-help, but everyone said a word to me, and no one could make up their minds.
Therefore, there was a proposal from the crew to replace the captain Fang Jiabai so that he could discuss countermeasures with everyone, and this proposal was immediately approved by all the crew.
Subsequently, the crew found the right time, telling the pirates that the captain had been driving the ship for a long time and that sufficient rest time must be guaranteed, and suggested that the first mate sail for the captain.
After hearing this, these pirates agreed to the crew's request, so that Fang Jiabai had the opportunity to come to the bottom warehouse, Fang Jiabai saw everyone, decided to mobilize everyone's enthusiasm first, and he told everyone about his contact with Fuyuanyu-225.
Sure enough, as soon as everyone heard it, they all came to their senses, saying that everything was listening to the captain Fang Jiabai, who told everyone that it was necessary to carry out self-help before the ship arrived at the target coordinates, otherwise everyone would not have a good end.
Picture 丨 The sea view of the Gulf of Aden
Moreover, Fang Jiabai also encouraged everyone to say that they had a great chance of winning, because the pirates only had 2 guns and 7 people, and they had 18 people, as long as they cooperated properly, they would be able to subdue the pirates and regain control of the ship.
With the encouragement of Fang Jiabai, everyone was full of confidence and began to discuss how to subdue the pirates, they have formulated several plans, but they were all rejected by Fang Jiabai, Fang Jiabai believed that the risk was too great, and there was only one chance.
At this time, a crew member suddenly remembered that there was an abandoned skylight in the bottom warehouse, from where he could go directly to the deck, after hearing the news, a veteran crew member on the ship immediately said that he was willing to go up and watch first.
However, Fang Jiabai directly pulled the crew, Fang Jiabai said that it was daytime, the pirates' vigilance was very high, it was easy to be detected, and he suggested that they should act again in the early hours of the morning.
Subsequently, Fang Jiabai led everyone to make a detailed plan, and also let the crew look for wooden sticks, ropes, iron tools and other items in the bottom warehouse, and told everyone to take turns to rest and ensure that they were in the best condition against the pirates.
After a period of time, Fang Jiabai went to the cockpit to change the first mate, and Fang Jiabai told the crew before leaving that he would let the first mate change shifts with him around midnight, and when he came to the bottom warehouse, he would start to act.
Picture 丨 The sea view of the Gulf of Aden
In this way, after making all the plans, everyone began to take turns to rest, because the wind and waves were relatively large that day, after the dark of the day, Fang Jiabai suggested that the boat stop and wait for dawn to continue sailing.
After consultation, the pirates agreed to Fang Jiabai's suggestion, and Fang Jiabai was finally relieved, as long as he could stay up until midnight, the rest depended on luck.
At 1:00 a.m. on August 24, Fang Jiabai successfully returned to the bottom warehouse from the cockpit, and everyone immediately surrounded Fang Jiabai after seeing him, at this time everyone was very nervous, because the next move would determine their fate.
Fang Jiabai brought a good news, the 7 pirates were divided into 3 groups, of which 3 people had entered the cabin to sleep, the remaining 4 guards, 2 were on the deck with guns, and the other 2 were hiding in the dining room watching TV.
Moreover, at this time, the 4 pirates in charge of the guard were all sleepy, and Fang Jiabai thought that as long as the 2 pirates with guns on the deck were solved first, it would be mostly successful, after all, when the gun was in his own hands, and there were veterans on his side, then everything would be easy to handle.
Fang Jiabai also divided his own personnel into 3 groups, the first group had the most personnel, responsible for dealing with 2 pirates on the deck, the 2nd and 3rd groups dealing with 2 pirates in the restaurant, and 3 pirates in the cabin.
Figure丨Somalia pirates (schematic)
At the same time, Fang Jiabai also demanded that the personnel of the 1st group should start first, and as long as they successfully seized the gun, the members of the 2nd and 3rd groups should quickly go to the designated place to control the relevant pirates.
When Fang Jiabai led the 1st group members to the deck quietly through the skylight, they found that the 2 pirates were dozing off, while the other 2 pirates in the restaurant were also in a drowsy state.
Normally speaking, as long as the fishermen are controlled by these pirates, no one will dare to resist, but these pirates forget that this time they are robbing Chinese fishermen, how can Chinese fishermen tie their hands and capture them?
Soon, Fang Jiabai led the 1st group of personnel, successfully controlled the 2 dozing pirates, and also took 2 guns in their hands, the 2nd group of personnel saw this and immediately rushed into the restaurant, waved the wooden stick in their hands at the 2 pirates and hit them.
The 2 pirates in the restaurant were subdued before they could react to what was going on, while the 3 pirates sleeping in the cabin were easier to deal with, and when the 3rd group of personnel rushed in, they found that the other party was sleeping.
Due to the noise of the wind and waves outside, the 3 pirates in the cabin did not hear any strange noise outside, and the 3 of them were controlled by the 3rd group of personnel in a frightened and unbelievable expression, and then the pirates could only shout surrender.
Figure丨Somalia pirates (schematic)
After Fang Jiabai led everyone to tie up the 7 pirates, they immediately counted the situation of their own personnel, fortunately, only 1 crew member was slightly injured when he grabbed the gun, and the others were intact.
After gaining control of the vessel, Fang Jiabai immediately contacted Fuyuanyu-225, and Liu Yongqiang, the captain of Fuyuanyu-225, was very excited after hearing Fang Jiabai's voice, Liu Yongqiang was worried about whether Fang Jiabai had been poisoned, and he did not expect That Fang Jiabai could get out of trouble smoothly.
Subsequently, Liu Yongqiang ignored the danger and immediately sailed towards Fang Jiabai, who also sailed in the direction of Liu Yongqiang, and soon the two Chinese ocean-going fishing boats converged.
After consultation, Fang Jiabai and Liu Yongqiang decided to leave the sea immediately, and they also believed that they could no longer go to the somali port and should drive the fishing boat directly to Yemen.
On August 27, the Chinese ocean-going fishing vessels Fuyuanyu-225 and Fuyuanyu-226 successfully sailed into the port of Aden, Yemen, while the Chinese Consul General in Aden led the staff to wait at the dock for a long time.
When these Chinese fishermen saw their relatives in the motherland, they could not help but shed tears of excitement, and the consul general, while getting on the boat to comfort the fishermen, arranged for the 7 pirates to be handed over to the local government in Yemen.
Pictured as a captured Somali pirate
Later, Yongfeng Fishery Company specially commended and rewarded Fang Jiabai and other fishermen, and the International Security Company apologized to Fang Jiabai and others while also compensating.
Overall, the performance of the Chinese fishing boats this time is very heroic, and it is precisely because of this that they have been able to successfully escape from danger, but this incident has also made all Chinese distant-water fishing boats very afraid, after being remembered by somali pirates, they have paid a huge ransom at best, and the talents are empty.
Since then, the mainland government has further strengthened the protection of China's distant-water fishing vessels, and in 2008, in accordance with the United Nations resolution and with the approval of the Somali government, the mainland officially established a Chinese naval escort formation in the Gulf of Aden.
Since then, the Chinese Navy can finally legitimately protect Chinese fishing vessels in the Gulf of Aden, and with the escort of the Chinese Navy, Chinese distant-water fishing vessels can finally carry out fishing operations in the Gulf of Aden with confidence.
Many fishermen on Chinese distant-water fishing boats proudly said: "The strong motherland and the strong Chinese navy are our strongest backing!" ”
Pictured: The Chinese Navy escorts Chinese fishing boats in the Gulf of Aden
For Captain Fang Jiabai, after his own personnel were held hostage by gun pirates, he was able to calm down, risk death to send a distress signal, and actively lead the crew to carry out self-help, this courage and courage are definitely worthy of people's praise.
For Captain Liu Yongqiang, after receiving the distress signal from the brother fishing boat, he actively went to the scene to rescue him regardless of his personal safety, which also showed the courage and friendship of Chinese fishermen.
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