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German warship, helicopter foil Egyptian ship hijack
Heavily armed Somali pirates shot a sailor on an Egyptian bulk carrier in a hijack bid that was foiled by the quick reaction of a German warship, a maritime watchdog said.
Heavily armed Somali pirates shot a sailor on an Egyptian bulk carrier in a hijack bid that was foiled by the quick reaction of a German warship, a maritime watchdog said on Thursday.
“A German warship responded quickly to a distress call. It deployed a chopper to scare off the Somali pirates who were shooting at the ship in the Gulf of Aden,” said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Board’s piracy reporting centre.
Choong said the Egyptian vessel was sailing from the Suez Canal to Asia with a 31 crew on board when attackers opened fire with automatic weapons in pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia.
“A passing ship relayed the pirate attack incident to the IMB. We informed the coalition forces and the German warship was deployed to the scene. Their fast response prevented the hijack,” he said.
