Rare Exception

It isn't very often a ship is hijacked inside the internationally recommended transit corridor.

Somali pirates hijacked a Singaporean ship and took the 19 Chinese sailors on board hostage on Monday in the Gulf of Aden, the European Union's naval force reported.

The Singaporean-flagged MV Golden Blessing was seized inside the internationally recommended transit corridor in the Gulf of Aden that is patrolled by the anti-piracy naval coalition.

The vessel, which has a dead weight of 14,445 tons, was enroute from Saudi Arabia to India when it was captured.

What makes this worth watching is that the sailors are Chinese. China is looking for a big moment from their naval activities against Somali piracy, something that puts them on center stage and sends a signal both domestically and internationally that the PLA Navy is engaged globally.

I am not suggesting a rescue, but if any opportunity is given I suspect they would take a chance.