MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - China"s...

The De Xin Hai cargo ship was seized by Somali pirates with 25 crew on board, around 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) from Somalia"s coast.

The ministry said in a statement: "Chinese ships must urgently steer as far away from the area as possible. Ships within the region must exercise caution and increase their vigilance."

The ship owned by China Cosco Holding was carrying about 76,000 metric tons of coal from South Africa to India"s western Mundra port.

The bulk carrier was spotted on Monday by an EU maritime patrol aircraft. According to the China Daily, the vessel is heading in a northwesterly direction, and four pirates are on the deck.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu earlier said the country would "make every effort" to free the crew, and that the government had launched an "emergency response procedure".

On Tuesday, one of the pirates was quoted by Chinese media as saying the vessel"s crew would be killed if Chinese authorities launched

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