January 20, 2026 | 07:46 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that five Indonesian nationals serving as crew members aboard the Chinese-flagged fishing vessel Liao Dong Yu 578 were employed legally at the time the ship was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
“They are working as legal crew members,” Heni Hamidah, Acting Director General for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens Abroad at the Foreign Ministry, told Tempo on Monday, January 19, 2026.
The vessel was seized by pirates on December 31, 2025, in waters off Bandarbeyla, Puntland, Somalia. Heni said the five Indonesians remain in captivity, along with 14 other crew members of various nationalities.
She added that the Foreign Ministry, through the Indonesian Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, is coordinating closely with Indonesia’s honorary consul in Somalia, as well as with Somali authorities and the vessel’s owner, to secure the release of the hostages.
The pirate attack occurred in the late afternoon of December 31, 2025. This was not the first incident involving the Liao Dong Yu 578.
In November 2024, the vessel was also hijacked in waters off Eyl Nugal, Puntland. According to information obtained by Tempo, the ship and its crew were released on January 13, 2025, after the company paid a ransom of US$2 million.
Read: 5 Indonesians Held Hostage as Chinese Ship Hijacked off Somalia
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