Pictured: Desperate Chinese sailors fight off Somali pirates with beer bottles and Molotov cocktails
Keeping low to avoid being shot, a sailor lights a Molotov cocktail before throwing it at Somali pirates trying to board his ship.
He and his crewmates were expecting trouble and had prepared dozens of the makeshift grenades to repel an invasion.
Their cargo vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Aden by pirates using speedboats and armed with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.
Standby to repel boarders: A Chinese sailor lights a Molotov cocktail before throwing it overboard at Somali pirates The attack occurred a day after Beijing said it was considering sending warships to the area to help battle piracy.
Another picture shows crew members gathered on deck who tried to repel the boarders with water cannon and beer bottles.Despite their best efforts the nine pirates clambered aboard after tying up alongside.
The 30 Chinese crew then locked themselves in their accommodation area - which includes their sleeping rooms, mess rooms and recreation area - to prevent the bandits from entering the ship itself.
The ship's captain, Peng Weiyuan, told Chinese TV that the crew used 'water cannon, self-made incendiary bombs, beer bottles and other missiles to fight the pirates' during the five-hour stand-off.
'Thirty minutes later, the pirates gestured to us for a ceasefire then the helicopters from the joint fleet came to our help.'
Peeking over to see the damage inflicted on the pirates, a Chinese sailor and his shipmates prepare more missiles to throw at the bandits
The helicopters had been sent from a Malaysian warship after responding to the distress call sent to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur.
After blasting the pirates with gunfire, the bandits clambered back into their speedboats and made off back to their coastal hideout.
China's official Xinhua News Agency said the Zhenhua 4 was attacked at 0443GMT on Wednesday. It belongs to China Communications Construction Co., and is registered in the Caribbean island of St. Vincent.
The assault occurred in the same area where a Malaysian-owned tugboat and a Turkish vessel were seized Tuesday, said Noel Choong, who heads the piracy reporting centre.
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