NATO warships foil pirate attack

NATO naval ships foiled a pirate attack on a Norwegian tanker, catching up with the would-be hijackers on Sunday after a seven-hour pursuit, but a captured Belgian vessel was headed for Somalia.

The dramatic overnight chase in the Gulf of Aden came after seven pirates on a skiff tried to board the 80,000-tonne MV Front Ardennes but fled when foreign ships approached.

First on the scene was a British Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel, the Wave Knight, but it was a Canadian frigate, the Winnipeg, which then gave chase.

"The pirates who initially had weapons and what appeared to be climbing gear threw all of that overboard," said NATO maritime spokesman Commander Chris Davies.

"When the Winnipeg finally caught up and stopped them... I am told there was sufficient evidence that these were pirates."

The suspects were held and questioned but could not be charged with any offence because doing so was not within Canada's jurisdiction.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised the crew of the Winnipeg for their "tremendous work."

"We obviously act within our legal authority and also within our capacities," Harper told reporters at the end of the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

A Belgian ship, the 65-metre 213-foot Pompei, was not so lucky, falling into pirate hands about 150 kilometres 93 miles north of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.

A reconnaissance flight Saturday by a Spanish naval helicopter revealed the Pompei was towing a much smaller vessel -- thought to be a pirate boat -- and was heading towards the Somali coast, some 700 kilometres away.

The Pompei would likely arrive there Wednesday, said Belgian officials. They would not say if any anti-piracy ships in the area would try to intervene.

"Like all hostage cases, there are several possibilities that will be examined in the coming days," said Jaak Raes of Belgium's crisis management centre. Government ministers would discuss the matter Monday, he added.

The captain of the 1,850-tonne vessel is Dutch, and the rest of the crew comprises two Belgians, three Filipinos and four Croatians. It is the first Belgian ship to be seized by Somali pirates.

Dutch marines, meanwhile, thwarted a pirate attack on a Greek-owned tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, freeing 16 Yemeni fishermen in the process.

A Dutch defence ministry spokesman said a British naval vessel intervened, keeping its guns trained on the pirates until Dutch commandos arrived under NATO orders to board.

"The marines found 25 people on board, nine of them suspected pirates," spokesman Robin Middel told AFP. The remaining 16 were Yemeni fishermen.

They seized and destroyed seven AK47 assault rifles and a rocket launcher. but the suspects were later released.

Somali pirates attacked more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden last year, an increase of more than 200 percent on 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau which tracks piracy.

Bodybuilders compete in the Open Kiev Cup for Bodybuilding competition in Kiev. AFP/Sergei Supinsky

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