Somali pirate attack thwarted by EU warships

Sailors on an Indian cargo vessel are safe Friday after European Union naval forces chased off Somali pirates who had boarded their ship in the Gulf of Aden Wednesday.

Pirates in the past have used vessels like the one attacked, called dhows, to sail farther out to sea to attack merchant ships.

European naval forces responded to a distress call from the master of the dhow Wednesday saying it was under attack by 12 armed pirates. The Royal Swedish Navy warship HSwMS Carlskrona and Dutch warship HNLMS Van Speijk responded on the scene.

As the two anti-piracy vessels circled the dhow, the pirates forced the ship toward the Somali coast, where they abandoned ship in the middle of the night.

None of the 14 Indian sailors was harmed.