The French navy yesterday detained 11 Somali pirates who tried to seize a Liberian-flagged merchant ship, and other pirates released a Greek-owned vessel captured in March.
France plans to hand the pirates to Kenyan authorities
Heavily armed pirates have been increasingly striking the busy Indian Ocean shipping lanes and strategic Gulf of Aden, capturing dozens of vessels, hundreds of hostages and making off with millions of dollars in ransoms.
The French frigate Nivosecaptured the pirates' mothership, which was carrying two small assault boats, some 900 kilometres east of the Kenyan port of Mombasa on Tuesday, the French Defence Ministry said.
"The centre of gravity for the pirates used to be the Gulf of Aden," said ministry spokesman Christophe Prazuck, adding that there had been a rise in attacks further away from Somalia.
The Nivose,deployed to prevent attacks in the gangs' widening hunting grounds off the coast of Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, tracked the pirates after its helicopter thwarted an attack on the Liberian-flagged Safmarine Asia.
Supported by a surveillance plane, France's frigate is in the region as part of "Operation Atalanta," the European Union's anti-piracy mission that also involves German, Spanish, French and Italian forces.
In Athens, the Greek Merchant Marine Ministry said the Saint-Vincent-flagged cargo ship Titanand its 24 crew were freed by their Somali captors yesterday.
"We were informed today by the company that the ship and its crew have been freed," said a ministry official. "There were three Greeks among the crew."
He said the ministry had no information whether a ransom had been paid.
The vessel was seized in March on its way from the Black Sea to Korea. Albamar Shipping, the firm based in the Greek port of Piraeus which manages the vessel, was not immediately available for comment.
There has been no let-up in the seizure of ships by pirates since US snipers killed three Somali pirates on Sunday and freed an American ship captain who had been held hostage for five days.
Last week, French forces attacked pirates holding a yacht with five hostages in a rescue mission, during which one of the hostages was killed. The pirates have vowed to take revenge on US and French citizens after the military operations.
Reuters