As we all know, the Suez Canal is an important shipping route connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and it is also a lifeline for global trade. But this lifeline is not absolutely safe, and the real lifeblood of this canal is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Once the strait is controlled, the Suez Canal is "abandoned".
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is full of reefs, narrow channels, and 10,000-ton ships must pass through, and must advance at a low speed of less than 18 knots, which gives the Somali pirates who have been entrenched here for a long time the opportunity to move.
Somalia is located in the "Horn of Africa" in eastern Africa, close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It is rich in fishery resources and rich in tuna, which attracts fishermen from all over the world to fish every year. But the delicious and lazy Somalis, guarding the rich fishery resources, the timid trapped on land to eat corn dumplings, the bold simply became pirates, robbed passing fishing boats, merchant ships, bad deeds, very arrogant.
However, in the far east, there is a "mysterious" force, they may be migrant workers on weekdays, and when they go to the sea, they are invincible Chinese fishermen, not only have excellent fishing skills and return with full loads, but also can fish out a lot of foreign fish and listening equipment, which is jokingly called "maritime militia".
In 2001, 18 Chinese fishermen competed against seven Somali pirates. And the "results" of the battle surprised everyone: this group of unarmed Chinese fishermen, in the face of the looting of the Somali pirates with guns and live ammunition, actually organized an orderly counterattack, playing the pirates around, kneeling on the ground and shouting "I surrender"!
What's going on?
Sail to the Gulf of Aden, but are robbed by pirates
On August 23, 2001, Fujian captain Fang Jiabai stood in the cab of FuyuanYu-226, full of pride.
A few days ago, together with 17 professional fishermen on board, he drove a fishing boat to the waters of the Gulf of Aden to carry out fishing operations. Along with Fuyuanyu-226, there was also a Fuyuanyu-225 fishing vessel belonging to the same company. On August 23, the wind and sun were beautiful, and the sea was calm, which was very suitable for fishing. So, Fang Jiabai set off with a fishing boat, and 10 nautical miles away, he could see the outline of FuyuanYu-226 in the distance without using a telescope.
In Fang Jiabai's view, this fishing operation is absolutely safe, because he not only went to sea with his brother fishing boat, but also assigned him two bodyguards to the Fuzhou Yongfeng Fishery Company before going to sea.
These two bodyguards are not simple, they are security personnel hired by the company from the British security company at a high price. The two men have been on missions in the Gulf of Aden for many years, not only familiar with the surrounding sea environment, but also carry guns and weapons, once they encounter Somali pirates, real knives and real guns, they are not vegetarians.
Fang Jiabai watched the two bodyguards patrolling the fishing boat with guns, and his heart was much calmer. He began to direct the fishermen to cast nets, and it wasn't long before a net of fat fish was caught.
Looking at these live fish in the fishing nets on the deck, Fang Jiabai was in a good mood, as long as he could return home safely, he could have an explanation for the company and the fishermen under his opponents.
But who would have thought that just when Fang Jiabai was in deep thought, two gunshots suddenly came from the deck, followed by a commotion. Fang Jiabai thought it was broken, did he encounter Somali pirates? Hurriedly leave the wheelhouse and ascend to the deck to check it out.
Once on deck, he was shocked by the scene he saw: the Chinese fishermen in the same boat were all crouched on the ground, holding their heads with their hands, looking at the two foreign bodyguards next to them with trepidation.
Before Fang Jiabai could react, the two bodyguards pointed at his head and asked him to squat with the fishermen. At this moment, he completely understood: these two people were going to rebel!
Fang Jiabai has been fishing for many years, and he has come many times in the open sea and has rich experience. At this time, his mind was racing, thinking: Although these two people have guns in their hands, only 18 Chinese fishermen are united, and they may not have no chance of winning!
But Fang Jiabai's desire to resist immediately failed, because while he was thinking, a speedboat came at a rapid speed, and after approaching fuyuanyu-226, five pirate-like people boarded the fishing boat, holding heavy weapons such as AK47s.
Don't think about it, these two bodyguards and pirates came together for the purpose of robbing Chinese fishing boats.
6 million yuan was asked, and no one rescued him
At this point, the risk of hard fighting is too great, and the best way is to negotiate with the pirates, stabilize them, and then try to ask fuyuanyu-225, which is 10 nautical miles away, to rescue the fishermen.
But the next negotiations did not go well, and Fang Jiabai could only speak a little English and could not talk to the pirates. The 7 pirates were also a little anxious, thinking about it, writing down a string of numbers on the paper and handing them to Fang Jiabai.
When Fang Jiabai took a look, he almost attacked his heart. I saw the Arabic numerals "6000000" written on the paper, followed by a $ symbol. Fang Jiabai immediately understood that this gang had a big appetite and asked for a ransom of $6 million!
Moreover, the Somali pirates made a gesture and ordered Fang Jiabai to return to the wheelhouse to open the boat, while other Chinese fishermen were escorted to the cabin. Fang Jiabai knew that the gang wanted him to sail the ship back to Somalia, then detain them and demand the $6 million ransom from the company and family to which they belonged.
Fang Jiabai had no choice but to sail a fishing boat according to the pirates' wishes. But he did not compromise on this, slowing down and wandering forward at a speed of 5 knots, while painstakingly thinking about how to send a distress signal to Fuyuanyu-225.
Finally, the pirate guarding the cab went to the toilet. Fang Jiabai picked up the walkie-talkie and secretly said several times that they had been abducted and were heading to the pirate's lair.
After the signal was sent, the pirates who went to the toilet also returned. Fang Jiabai did not dare to act rashly, and could only hope that the brother fishing boat received his distress signal, and then contacted the company, and the company asked the security company or the embassy for help, so that there was a glimmer of life.
But Fang Jiabai waited left and right, waiting for two hours, the sea was still calm, and there was no shadow of the rescue ship at all. Fang Jiabai's heart went up and down, didn't Fuyuanyu-225 receive the distress signal from himself?
In fact, Fuyuanyu-225 received a distress signal at the first time, and the captain Liu Yongqiang also quickly contacted the company. At the company's behest, he immediately stopped fishing and drove up after him.
But after sailing for two hours, Liu Yongqiang did not find the shadow of Fuyuanyu-226, and seeing that it was close to the Somali waters, he had to report to the company. The company believed that going deep into the tiger's den would only put Fuyuanyu-225 in danger, so it ordered Liu Yongqiang to stop the pursuit and stand by.
The failure of the rescue also means that the 18 unarmed Chinese fishermen on the Fuyuanyu-226 must save themselves to escape.
Fight the pirates and escape the day
Just as Fang Jiabai was racking his brains to consider countermeasures, the 17 Chinese fishermen detained in the cabin of the ship were not idle, talking about ways to think of a way. But after some discussion, everyone disagreed, and one person had to make a decision. Therefore, everyone shouted loudly to the pirates, gestured, and demanded that Fang Jiabai be replaced and another person sail on the grounds that the captain was overworked. The pirates thought they couldn't turn over the storm and agreed to the request.
Fang Jiabai returned to the cabin and did not sit still, everyone gathered around, and you said one word at a time:
"Captain, what can you do?"
"I can't do it, fight with the pirates!" There are 18 of us, and we can't believe that we can't escape a few! ”
"No, I still have a wife doll, I can't force it!"
At this time, a fisherman from a veteran on the ship gave everyone an idea and said: "Everyone knows that there is an abandoned skylight in the bottom warehouse, and climbing out from there will definitely catch the pirates by surprise!" ”
Fang Jiabai listened, this is indeed a good idea, but this is daytime, hasty action is very likely to be discovered, the fishermen are unarmed, not at all the opponents of pirates with guns. Finally, he decided to go back to the wheelhouse and acquiesce with the pirates to stop the ship first, and then wait until late at night to do so. Before leaving, he instructed the crew to prepare ropes, chains and other tools in advance to subdue the gangsters.
By one o'clock in the morning, Fang Jiabai returned to the cabin, and he told everyone that the 7 pirates on the ship, three were sleeping in the cabin, two were standing on the deck with guns guarded, and the remaining two were watching movies in the restaurant.
Fang Jiabai believed that when the time came for action, he divided the crew into three groups, the first group with the most people, dealing with the pirates with guns on the deck, and the other two groups dealing with the pirates sleeping and watching movies. The crew nodded and followed suit.
When Fang Jiabai arrived on the deck from the skylight with the first group, he was surprised to find that the two pirates who were originally bodyguards did not carry guns. The opportunity could not be missed, and he immediately beckoned the people to rush forward, beat them with sticks, and arrested the two of them.
The operation of the two groups has also gone extremely smoothly. When the second group rushed to the restaurant, the two pirates watching the movie were sleepy, and after a taste of "Chinese Kung Fu", they tied their hands.
The three pirates who were sleeping in the cabin were sleeping at this time, and they were taken prisoners in a confused way, and naturally they were beaten.
At this time, the Gulf of Aden was still calm and calm, but the FuyuanYu-226 was very lively, the Chinese fishermen shouted and shouted, and the 7 pirates were tied up and thrown on the deck, and could only shout: "Don't dare, I surrender!" ”
The whole body retreated, and the ending was happy
Fang Jiabai returned to the cockpit and contacted Fuyuanyu-225. Finally, after consultation between the two captains, it was decided to leave the sea immediately and head for Yemen.
On August 27, two Chinese fishing boats appeared at the docks of the port of Aden in Yemen. At this time, the staff of the Chinese Consul General in Aden and the consulate had been waiting for a long time. When the two sides met at the pier, the 18 Chinese fishermen who escaped death shed tears of excitement.
As for the seven pirates who hijacked Chinese fishing boats, they were all sent to Yemen by the consulate and handed over to the local government for disposal.
Next, Fang Jiabai continued to lead the fishermen to fish, not only returning with a full load, but also receiving a generous bonus from the company. The British security company learned that its bodyguard was the internal cause of the pirates, and also apologized for the first time, and issued a compensation payment to 18 Chinese fishermen.
Since then, the story of 18 Chinese fishermen bravely fighting Somali pirates has spread in the Gulf of Aden, and when the local people learned about it, they all lamented the greatness of Chinese fishermen.
Seven years later, by a United Nations resolution, the Chinese Navy escort formation sailed into the Gulf of Aden and began to protect Chinese fishing vessels in a justifiable way, and Chinese fishermen could finally confidently and boldly carry out fishing operations in this area.
Many Chinese fishermen returning from the Gulf of Aden mentioned the pride of the Chinese Navy's escort formation, and they proudly said: "The strong motherland and people's navy are our strongest backing!" ”