November 13, 2011: Once more, the crew of a ship taken by pirates has fought back and driven the pirates away. In this case the 28 man crew of the 260 ton Taiwanese fishing boat (the Chin Yi Wen) was captured on November 4th while working more than a thousand kilometers from Somalia, in the Indian Ocean. Two days later, the Chinese captain quietly planned an attack which overwhelmed the two armed guards that were holding most of the crew in one room of the Chin Yi Wen. The crew (of Vietnamese, Indonesians and Filipinos) then quickly rushed the other four pirates, who fled to the speedboats and headed back to their mother ship. The first two pirates were tossed overboard as well, and were picked up by their mother ship, which then fled as a British warship approached. Three of the fishermen were slightly injured in the battle, and received medical care from the warship. Then the crew got back to fishing.

Some of these crew rebellions have failed, but most are over quickly one way or the other. Long-range fishing boats are taken not for ransom, but to serve as mother ships. The crews are held for ransom back in Somalia.