NATO forces have foiled an attack by Somali pirates on a Norwegian tanker in the Gulf of Aden.
A spokesman aboard a Canadian warship, the Winnipeg, said it responded after pirates armed with rifles and grenades tried to board the 80,000-tonne MV Front Ardenne late on Saturday night.
The pirates fled, throwing their weapons off their small skiff. They were caught hours later, questioned but then released.
Yesterday the Dutch navy captured seven suspected Somali pirates and freed 20 captives in the strategic Gulf of Aden shipping lane.
The target then was a Greek-owned ship from the Marshall Islands, the Handytankers Magic.
However pirates seized a Belgian-registered ship, carrying a 10-member international crew, also off the coast of Somalia yesterday.
A Belgian government crisis centre spokesman said the ship, a dredging vessel, sent an alarm signal when it was some 600km from the Somali coast and heading for the Seychelles.
