A Spanish patrol plane and a British ship scuppered an attempt by seven pirates to capture a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden and seized ladders, hooks and weapons, Spain's Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday.
The crew of the plane, part of the EU's anti-pirate force off the coast of Somalia, spotted two suspicious-looking vessels at about 0615 GMT, a ministry statement said.
Realising the pirates were closing in on a San Vicente-flagged merchant ship, the Spaniards warned the merchant ship which sped up to avoid the pirates.
The British ship Portland, along with two motorboats and a helicopter, then pursued and caught the pirate ships and its crew seized the pirates' weapons which included AK-47s, rocket propelled grenades and M-16 rifles.
They released the seven pirates after confiscating their smaller vessel.
Foreign warships have been deployed off the coast of the lawless Horn of Africa state since the turn of the year to try to prevent the piracy that has flourished in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes.
However, international law is far from clear on the issue. Captured pirates are routinely disarmed and set free. Some have been taken to France, Kenya and even the United States while others have been handed over to the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland.
The northern region of Somalia says it zealously prosecutes and tries pirates, though some analysts accuse senior Puntland officials of complicity with the gangs.
Source: Reuters
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