Those high-seas pirates that walk about on wooden legs and wear eye patches evolved in later years. Using satellite phones and heavy weaponry early 21st century pirates began exploiting ambiguous maritime laws and using shipping patterns to their advantage while taking in hauls easily worth millions of dollars. Much of the world’s cargo passes through the Straits of Malacca, a relatively narrow passageway connecting the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, or goes around the Horn of Africa. The latter has seen an uptick in pirate attacks, like the kind that seized the Chinese cargo ship De Xin Hai.

On this day, October 20, 2009, several days after Somali pirates seized the ship 700 miles off the African coast, China publicly announced they would return the ship and crew back home safely.

The bulk carrier was loaded with 70,000 tons of coal and held a crew of 25, who were taken hostage and brought to the largely lawless Somali mainland, where they were expected to join more than 100 hostages from previously captured vessels. By December, the Chinese state-run news agency announced the ship and crew were recovered safely, without detailing how they were recovered. According to one of the hostages, China paid a ransom of $4 million for their release.