Somali pirates have failed in their attempt to hijack a French-flagged vessel approximately 100 nautical miles southeast of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
An attempt to capture the vessel carrying liquefied petroleum gas called Maido was unsuccessful, the European Union Naval Force said on Wednesday, reported xinhuanet.
The vessel came under attack late on Tuesday with 14 crew members in the Somali basin, the naval force spokesman, Per Kingvall, said.
"Pirates had managed to board the vessel, however, later in the evening (Tuesday) they eventually abandoned it, after having been unable to get control over the crew who had locked themselves in the ship's "citadel," Klingvall added.
The 14 crew members have been reported as being safe but their nationalities have not yet been disclosed.
Currently pirates are holding almost 20 vessels and a total of nearly 400 hostages, according to the naval force.
The Gulf of Aden is the main sea route between Europe and Asia but has recently become a notorious pirate haven.
All tankers carrying Middle East oil through the Suez Canal must pass through the Gulf of Aden first. However, only about 4 percent of the world's daily oil supply is shipped through the gulf.
The attacks launched by pirates targeting vessels are being carried out by increasingly well-coordinated Somali gangs armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
The Horn of Africa nation has been without a functioning government since 1991, and remains one of the world's most violent countries.
Source: Press TV
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