BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The convoy fleet sent by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy rescued a Tuvaluan ship hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday local time.

The navy said in a statement that its 25th convoy fleet, which was conducting the escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somali at the time, received report of the hijack of the ship OS35 at around 5 p.m. Saturday. The fleet's vessel Yulin set out for the area immediately.

After some reconnaissance and having contacted with the ship's crew, rescue operation started early Sunday morning.

A group of 16 members from the navy's special force boarded OS35 and rescued the 19 crew members.

The statement said all the 19 crew members were under the protection of the Chinese navy, and soldiers carried out a thorough search of the ship to clear possible security threat.