A Chinese naval vessel early Saturday morning conducted a successful mission of a released Greek merchant ship off the Somali coast, at the request of the Greek side, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

The merchant ship Navios Apollon, hijacked by Somali pirates in December 2009, is now on its way to the safe waters under the escort of the Chinese vessel, the ministry said in a statement.

Navios Apollon has one Greek and 18 Philippine sailors aboard.

A Chinese naval ship escorted Singapore-flagged tanker Pramoni, hijacked off the Somali coast last month, to the safe waters on Friday.