NAIROBI, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese fishing vessel was hijacked by pirates armed with grenade launchers and automatic weapons off the coast of Kenya late Thursday night and was being held off the coast of the southern Somalia port city of Kismanyu on Friday.

The 24 crew members on board are "fine," a pirate leader told local radio in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, Friday.

Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Association (SAP) said the pirates hijacked the Chinese fishing boat, named Tanyo No. 8, with 24 crew members on the Kenyan waters probably near Lamu and demanded it sail toward the coastal area off Somalia.

The 24 crew aboard the abducted ship of Tianjin Ocean Fishing Company included 16 Chinese with one from China's Taiwan province, one Japanese, three Filipinos and four Vietnameses, according to a source with the Chinese Ministry of Transport,

A pirate leader, who did not identify himself, however, claimed that the Chinese vessel was fishing off the Somali territorial waters, adding that the ship and crew "will be put before the law and punished accordingly."

The 24 crew members aboard the abducted ship are "fine", the Somali pirate leader said.

It is the first time pirate activities, which have usually been endemic in northern and northeastern Somali coast, were reported off the southern Somali coast.

Pirates, who claim that they are protecting Somali national resources from illegalfishing and waste dumping, often contact local media to say "that they have captured" ships fishing off the coast of Somalia and to state their demands for ransom.

The pirates holding the Chinese ship said that they will speak about their demands "at a later time."

The attack came hours after a Russian-operated cargo ship off the coast of Somalia escaped pirates who had attacked it with grenade launchers and machine guns, according to Mwangura.

He said the pirates raced toward the ship, the Captain Maslov, in a high-speed boat late Thursday and launched attacks as it headed from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Mombasa, Kenya.

Two alleged pirates were killed during shootings between those aboard the small boat and Cumberland crew members, the statement said.

A third person, a Yemeni national, died later from injuries, despite care from the Cumberland's doctor.

The global maritime body has recorded nearly 90 incidents of piracy or attempted piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast between January and October this year.

Rampant insecurity inside Somalia remains a major obstacle to the delivery of humanitarian supplies.
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