A Danish naval warship on Thursday thwarted an attack by armed pirates on a Chinese vessel in the Gulf of Aden, the US Naval Forces Central Command said. The Bahrain-based command said that Danish support ship HDMS Absalon had "successfully deterred an attempted pirate attack on the Chinese M/V Yandanghai."| The crew of the distressed ship had managed to prevent the attackers from climbing on board by using fire hoses against them. |
Chinese state media earlier reported that Chinese naval forces had thwarted a pirate attack on a Liberian-flagged Italian merchant ship on Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia. It was the second time that a Chinese naval convoy, sent to the region on a landmark mission to protect the country's shipping from pirates, has come to the aid of foreign ships, according to Xinhua. The force's mission marked China's first potential combat mission beyond its territorial waters in centuries.
US and European ships have also been sent to the waters off Somalia, where pirates attacked more than 100 vessels last year.