PIRATES hijacked a cargo ship with 29 Chinese sailors aboard in the Arabian Sea and told the shipping company they were taking it toward Somalia, Chinese officials said yesterday.

The attack came two days after another 17 Chinese sailors returned home after being held by Somali pirates for four months. It also highlights the spread of piracy to areas outside the Gulf of Aden, a hijacking hot spot now patrolled by international forces.

An official with the China Marine Rescue Center said the Panama-flagged ship Yuan Xiang was attacked on Friday night. The Ningbo Hongyuan Ship Management Company reported the attack to the rescue center just before midnight and said the pirates were taking the ship toward Somalia.

The rescue center said it failed to contact the ship and the fate of the Chinese sailors remained unclear.

The attack occurred in an area outside the region where China's navy is part of a multinational force patrolling the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and other waters off Somalia where pirates operate.

Raids by Somali pirates accounted for more than half of the 406 sea attacks last year, the highest total in six years.

The jump came despite the deployment at the end of 2008 of the first international force specifically to counter Somali pirates, the European Union Naval Force.

While worldwide pirate attacks fell 18 percent in the first half of 2010 from a year ago, the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in July said pirates were shifting their attacks outside the Gulf of Aden zone now patrolled by the multinational force.

On Wednesday, another 17 Chinese sailors returned home after being held more than four months by Somali pirates, who newspaper reports said gave the sailors only one meal of boiled potatoes per day.

The Beijing Daily said the pirates were paid an undisclosed amount of money in ransom after the Shanghai-based ship's owner mortgaged his home and all his shipping company shares to raise funds.

• aboard [ə´bɔ:d] ad.&prep.在...上 (初中英语单词)
• shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• rescue [´reskju:] vt.&n.救援；挽救 (初中英语单词)
• management [´mænidʒmənt] n.管理；处理；经营 (初中英语单词)
• midnight [´midnait] n.午夜；漆黑 (初中英语单词)
• contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)
• operate [´ɔpəreit] v.(使)运转；操作；经营 (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• european [juərə´pi:ən] a.欧洲的 n.欧洲人 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
• marine [mə´ri:n] a.海的 n.海军陆战队 (高中英语单词)
• counter [´kauntə] n.计算者；柜台；计算机 (高中英语单词)
• pirate [´paiərət] n.海盗 v.做海盗；掠夺 (高中英语单词)
• ransom [´rænsəm] n.赎金；勒索 vt.赎 (高中英语单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
• maritime [´mæritaim] a.海(上)的；海运的 (英语六级单词)