A Chinese vessel was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman on Friday. The cargo ship belonging to a Nanjing company was hijacked at about 9:30 am local time (1030 IST) in the Sea of Oman near the Iranian port Chabahar, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

It offered no other details including the nationality of the hijackers.

The Chinese embassy in Tehran has started emergency operations and contacted related Iranian governmental departments, urging the Iranian side to take all necessary measures and spare no efforts to rescue the ship and the crew members.