EU forces prevent Somali pirate attack

EU forces in the Gulf of Aden have prevented several pirate attacks in the last few days and arrested more than 25 pirates.

Somali pirates gave up a raid on a Greek oil tanker on Friday (2 January) after the intervention of EU forces, the Greek merchant marine ministry has reported.

The pirates, driving speedboats, were trying to board the tanker when a frigate, jet fighter and helicopter dispatched by the European Union's Atalanta mission approached.

"There were two failed attempts to board and the pirates fled after the crisis response group was activated with a fighter aircraft, a helicopter and a frigate sent to the area," a marine ministry official said, the BBC reports.

Earlier, a French navy ship participating in Atalanta stopped two speedboats targeting a Panamanian freighter and arrested the boats' eight crew members, the French government said.

In another action on Sunday, the French warship Jean de Vienne stopped Somalian pirates in the Gulf of Aden from seizing a Croatian and a Panamanian cargo vessel.

The Jean de Vienne frigate carried out "decisive action" against two new attacks, said Paris.

The 19 Somali pirates, carrying weapons, ammunition and material for boarding ships, "were intercepted," and "will be transferred to the Somali authorities."

According to the French defence ministry, assault rifles, two rocket launchers, and more than 1,000 litres of oil were seized.

The EU's Atalanta mission was launched in December to escort aid and commercial ships through the Gulf of Aden – one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and which saw more than 100 pirate attacks last year.

The 27-nation bloc aims to respond to both the increasing number of attacks and the development of piracy resources that has brought today's pirate operations to new levels of mobility and use of technology.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, the number of pirate attacks has fallen sharply as a result of the increase in naval patrols, with only two ships being captured by pirates in December.

However, Somali pirates are still holding some 15 ships with more than 200 crew, the BBC says.