China vows ‘all-out efforts’ to rescue hijacked ship

China on Tuesday said rescue operations were under way for the crew of a Chinese coal ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters in Beijing that his government had “actively started rescue operations” for the ship, which has a crew of 25. He declined to give details but observers said they expected the issue to be resolved diplomatically. Ma added that China had issued a warning to its citizens in or travelling to the area. China sent three warships to Somali waters late last year with great fanfare, after a ship carrying oil to China was attacked by pirates. But Chinese warships, like those of other nations, primarily provide protection in the narrow and dangerous Gulf of Aden, not in the much larger Indian Ocean. Ships travelling up the east coast of Africa are advised to stay at least 600 nautical miles offshore, Chinese shippers said.

The De Xin Hai, carrying about 76,000 tonnes of coal from South Africa to the port of Mundra, in Gujarat, India, was hijacked about 700 nautical miles off the east coast of Somalia on Monday, the European Union’s counter-piracy force said.

China vows ‘all-out efforts’ to rescue hijacked ship was first posted on October 20, 2009 at 11:01 pm.

Ares I-X rocket ready to launch

NASA’s new Ares rocket started its slow journey to the launch pad in Florida on Tuesday. The Ares I-X rocket left the vehicle assembly building early on Tuesday morning standing on a slow-moving crawler-transporter headed for Launch Pad 39-b at the Kennedy Space Center.

Moving at a top speed of 0.8 miles per hour, the re-scheduled deployment will take approximately seven hours to cover the 4.2 miles to the pad. The rollout of Ares I-X was set originally for Monday, however during testing on October 14, engineers detected a nitrogen gas leak in an accumulator located in the aft skirt of the rocket. The accumulator, which absorbs hydraulic pressure spikes as the system operates, was replaced and successfully retested. NASA management is assessing what effect, if any, this delayed rollout will have on the targeted launch date. The 327-foot rocket is scheduled to lift off on October 27 for its first suborbital test flight.

NASA officials will use this flight to gauge flight characteristics, examine hardware and observe ground operations associated with the launch. The Ares will carry no payload during this first flight.

If the U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration gives the green light to the Ares programme, the rocket is expected to replace the Space Shuttle payload system and could begin carrying astronauts and equipment to the International Space Station within five years, with plans to act as the delivery system for any manned lunar attempts or further space exploration.

Ares I-X rocket ready to launch was first posted on October 21, 2009 at 12:00 am.