A Sierra Leone cargo ship with 32 Chinese crew members on board outran four pirate boats in the Gulf of Aden Monday, Chinese officials in Beijing said.

The China Maritime Search and Rescue Center said the pirates gave chase in the eastern region of the gulf about 3:50 p.m., with speeds reaching 19 nautical miles per hour, Xinhua reported.

Nearby warships dispatched to protect the ship found it secure about 40 minutes later, the state-run Chinese news agency reported.

The center said the cargo vessel was loaded with more than 10,000 tons of silicate and oil equipment bound from Singapore to the Republic of Djibouti in northeastern Africa.