The Chinese cargo ship hijacked in the Indian Ocean this week has enough fuel for a month and plenty of food and water to meet the needs of the 25 crew being held hostage, state media said Thursday.
China's navy has convened an emergency meeting on the hijacking of the "De Xin Hai" but no orders have been issued to dispatch rescue ships on patrol near the Gulf of Aden to the stricken vessel, the Global Times reported.
Somali pirates have threatened to execute the entire crew if China attempts a rescue operation, the paper said.
China on Tuesday vowed "all-out efforts" to rescue the ship which is the sixth international vessel currently in the hands of Somali pirates.
According to the European Union's anti-piracy naval mission, the ship was seized on Monday 550 nautical miles (1,000 kilometres) northeast of the Seychelles and 700 nautical miles off the pirate-ridden coast of Somalia.
The ship is laden with a cargo of coal but has over 700 tonnes of fuel, 150 tonnes of fresh water and plenty of food for the 25 crew members, the Beijing Times said, citing the China Maritime Rescue Centre.
Radio communications with the ship were cut off late Wednesday, the paper said, leading officials to believe that the pirates are now in control of the ship's equipment.
No ransom demand has been made so far, it added.
Since last year a flotilla of foreign warships has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, one of the busiest maritime trade routes on the globe that has been plagued by piracy.
China sent three navy ships to the Somali coast in January to join these efforts to protect the region's shipping from pirates, and has previously come to the aid of at least one stricken vessel, state media reports have said.
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