MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – At least six suspected pirates were on Friday arrested by a European naval force after they opened fire on an oil tanker traveling through the Gulf of Aden, officials said.
According to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which oversees Mideast shipping routes, the alleged pirates used a small ship “carrying weapons and ladders to attack the Marshall Islands-flagged Chrystal Arctic.
The armed onboard security team returned fire at them, the UKMTO said.
The UKMTO said the pirates then abandoned their attempt to take the tanker, which continued on its way with all its crew safe.
But hours later, the European Union naval force in the region known as Operation Atalanta said a frigate operating in the region detained six suspected pirates.
The frigate seized the pirates given “the unsafe condition of their skiff” and said that some had “injuries of varied severity.”
