I agree with most of the comments, however would like to see these mechant ships have at least some weapons for self defense. By the way, why must I go to Europen web sites such as the London Times to get this news. CBS,NBC & ABC news just seem not to care.

John O'Daly, Dallas, NC, U.S.A.

Pirates are holding guns, crew have ( bottles ), mean nothing, Principally may be but practically I don't know.
According to my experienced, It is not standard against procedure. I'm almost 30 years sea experienced Capt.
Thinks about for all vessels n crew's safety.

Capt.Aung, Yangon, Myanmar

Simply arming the boats does not solve the problem. There is no reciprocity between stateless actors and MNCs. That being said, if the pirates were met with merchant resistance, what incentive would they have to not fire a singular RPG and destroy the target.

john, Rhode Island, USA

That is pretty astonishingly brave!

Tom, Sudbury,

They're molotov cocktails IN beer bottles, so the headline is correct. I suppose they could have used hot wok oil as in medieval times, or maybe just dropped a heavy object onto the pirates' boat when it pulled alongside to board.

But big respect to the crew...I shall drink one in their honour.

Carl, London,

What happened to the pirates? Were they captured, were their vessels sunk? OR, as I suspect, nothing was done and they were allowed to slip away so as not to upset the PC police? They should have been blown out of the water by the helecopter.

A. Adams, Biloxi,

well done crew - and then, the choppers arrived, what happened next? can't see a small pirate launch has anything but surrender or be sunk as options in the open sea. what happened?

radek, almeria,

Hats off to the Chinese sailormen of course, but with Simon, I wonder why these ships aren't armed? I hear the guys at Blackwater are looking for a new job! And why not raise an international force to deal with those pirate dens? An example has to be set, for right now piracy is 'cool' in Somalia

Ben, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Who cares about the Chinese warship, send more Chinese Crews!

will, Wenzhou, China

Those aren't beer bottles, they're Molotow cocktails. The sailor is priming the fuse.

Menno Aartsen, Washington, D.C., USA

There's a full interview on the BBC World Service with the captain of the boat - fabulous stuff. Hopefully they'll put it on their website. Best radio that I've heard for years.

Nick, London,

What kind of beer it was?

Aluvarius, seda,

"Merchant ships should have a large gun put on board, as they did in WW2 - Barry Williams, Shevington"

Good idea on the face of it, but those guns were for subs and other shipping. Small fast boats will soon reach the guns blind spots and the boarding commence - armed crew are the only solution

Homer, London,

Really sounds interest ing.As a chinese,I'm proud of this~

Changcy, Shanghai, China

This sounds like a "Jackie Chan" movie! I wonder if anyone threw their shoes?

Dan Hines, Yorktown, Virginia, USA

Ah the Chinese Navy! I guarantee there won't be any rights for pirates from the Chinese. No requests to surrender. Guns first, rights second. Not always a bad thing.

David Smith, Stourbridge, UK

Merchant ships should have a large gun put on board, as they did in WW2 and crew taught to use it. That would soon stop the pirates! Nelson would be turning in his grave if he saw us putting up with this.

Barry Williams, Shevington, UK

Does that penultimate paragraph mention PLA? The Port of London Authority have sent out a security team? Well done, lads.

simon, london,

When I worked on Luxury Yachts a few years back some of them had complete arsenals on board including automatic weapons and when the owners were around they had trained people that knew how to use them. One boat even had doubles to walk round the deck first for snipers. Why aren't the ships armed?

Simon, London,

It just goes to show that not everything can be easily settled over a pint.

CMD, Kolkata, India

The Chinese crew deserve all the praise they can get. It must have been a scary experience and rather than flee or give in, they stood up to the pirates and held them off until proper assistance arrived. Excellent!

Kim, London,

Is there an internet facility to buy these boys a (replacement) beer? Well done!

A Fleisch, Silsden,

Well done the Chinese.
These guys seem to be fighting for something not just money.
Greek shipowners club in London please note.
An ancient Greek in London

Nicholas Xenakis, Borough, London, England, Britain

As much as I disapprove of acts of piracy, the fact that pirats are holding "a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying 30 Soviet-era tanks bound for southern Sudan" does not annoy me whatsoever. These tanks should never have been sent to this war-torn country in the first place. Hope the crew is safe though.

Jeanne, Chelsea,