Italian Ship Escapes Pirates’ Attack In Gulf Of Aden

An Italian ship has on Wednesday survived pirates’ attack in the Gulf of Aden as foreign naval force seize suspicious skiff with five people on board, Africa News reported. A statement from European Union’s anti-piracy mission Operation Atlanta said one of its warship and helicopter, in cooperation with a South Korean navy helicopter responded to a distress call from Italian Vessel MV Southern Cross, which come under attack from suspected pirates. “HNOMS Fridtjof Nansen and the helicopter of the South Korean warship Daejoyoung from CTF 151 responded directly to the situation.While the Fridtjof Nansen and the helicopter were approaching, the skiff with five people on board broke off the attack after having fired several shots to the pilot house of Southern Cross and escaped to the south,” it stated. A helicopter dispatched by German warship FGS Bremen later detected the suspicious skiff, allowing Norwegian warship HNOMS Fridtjof Nansen to launch her counter piracy operation with her boarding team and conducted a boarding, the statement added. The skiff was later released after pirates threw their weapons overboard. Ransom-hunting Somali pirates are wreaking havoc in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, despite an unprecedented foreign naval deployment in the waters.