A Portuguese warship briefly held 19 pirates armed with high explosives after foiling an attack on a Norwegian tanker in the Gulf of Aden.
NATO Lieutenant Commander Alexandre Fernandes said the Norwegian crude oil tanker MV Kition radioed for help yesterday as a skiff carrying pirates armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades approached.
A NATO helicopter spotted the skiff and began tracking the pirates who retreated to a larger vessel which was later intercepted after a high-speed chase by a Portuguese escort frigate.
Eight marines then managed to board the vessel.
No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, Somali gunmen have hijacked a Greek-owned bulk carrier with a crew of 24 on board, a maritime official said.
‘MT Ariana was seized at 0200 GMT, north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East from Brazil.’
‘The Ukrainian crew are said to be unhurt,’ Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme said.
The ship belongs to All Oceans shipping in Greece, and is managed by London based Seven Seas Maritime.
Elsewhere, Somali pirates claimed to have hijacked a Ukrainian ship carrying United Nations' vehicles in Indian Ocean waters, and the vessel was heading to the coastal town of Haradheere.
Maritime and UN officials have not confirmed the report.
