Indian navy interrupts pirate hijacking

MANAMA, Bahrain, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The Indian Navy said Saturday it had captured 23 pirates as they tried to board an Ethiopian-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

The pirates were Somali and Yemeni, the BBC reported. A navy spokesman said the Indians responded to a distress call from the MV Gibe and caught the pirates in the act.

On Friday, a high-level U.S. naval commander said attacking Somali ports probably wouldn't be effective in battling rampant piracy.

Speaking at a security conference in Bahrain attended by representatives from 25 countries, U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said there would many difficulties in attacking land bases in an effort to curtail piracy.

Gortney maintained that civilian casualties could be high in such attacks because pirates would be hard to identify. Instead, he suggested shippers employ armed guards to protect their vessels from hijackings.

Meanwhile, Somali pirates Saturday released a Greek chemical tanker, the MV Action, they had held since October, a piracy monitor told CNN.

"She is currently limping to safe waters (and) it is feared that three crew members lost their lives under questionable circumstances," Andrew Mwangura, head of the Seafarers Assistance Program in Mombasa, Kenya.