Pirates holding the crew of the Chinese fishing vessel FV Tian Yu 8 guard their hostages November 17, 2008 as the ship passes through the Indian Ocean. The ship was attacked November 16 in the US 5th Fleet area of responsibility and forced to proceed to an anchorage off the Somali coast. [Agencies]

The US navy Wednesday issued a harrowing picture of Chinese sailors being held at gunpoint on a fishing vessel hijacked by Somali pirates off Kenya last week.

Taken by the US Navy Fifth Fleet on Monday, the snap shows the crew of the Tianyu 8, from Tianjin Ocean Fishing Corp, sitting in a circle on deck surrounded by gunmen somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

Twenty-five sailors, 17 Chinese and eight foreigners, were aboard the ship when pirates hijacked it in Kenyan fishing waters on November 14.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular news briefing on Tuesday that the Chinese government was making efforts to save the seafarers.

"We condemn all pirate actions and we're willing to combat the pirates under permission from the Somali government," Qin said.

Tianyu 8, however, is not the latest ship to run into trouble in this area. On Tuesday, pirates took control of four ships from Thailand, Iran, Greece and Hong Kong in the Gulf of Aden.

One of them, the Delight, a Hong Kong-flagged ship, was loaded with grain and had 25 sailors, an official at Hong Kong's Maritime Rescue Coordination Center told Reuters.