Warships of the United States and South Korea have rescued an Egyptian cargo ship from being attacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, said the U.S. Navy on Thursday.
The navy said that helicopters launched from South Korean destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great and cruiser USS Gettysburg chased away the pirates after receiving a distress call from MV Amira, an Egyptian cargo ship.
American forces on board USS Gettysburg spotted a suspected pirate "mother ship" while rushing to provide assistance to the Egyptian ship, the navy said, adding that the search-and-seizure team arrested all the 17 people on board the vessel after recovering guns and ammunition from them.
The Gulf of Aden, which is one of the world's busiest sea lanes, has been affected by piracy in the recent months and more than a hundred pirate attacks have been reported in the waters off Somalia since the beginning of 2008. Generally, the crew and the vessels are returned unharmed on receiving the demanded ransom.
The pirate attacks off the Somali coast have escalated in the recent weeks despite the presence of some 20 warships, deployed by navies of the NATO, the European Union, Russia, China, South Korea and India, in the region to protect cargo and cruise ships against piracy in the region.
Also, the UN Security Council has approved four resolutions since June to promote the international efforts to fight the escalating piracy problem off the coast of Somalia, and has authorized counties engaged in anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast to conduct land and air attacks on Somali pirates after obtaining prior permission from the Somali government.
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