Yemeni navy forces free oil tanker after clash with pirates (Roundup)

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni navy and coast guard forces freed an oil tanker and killed two pirates after a clash in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, Yemen's Defence Ministry and coast guard sources reported. The ministry said in a statement that navy ships and helicopters took part in the rescue operation. Coast guard sources told the German Press Agency dpa that two pirates were killed and three pirates and two Yemeni soldiers were injured in the clashes. They said four more pirates were arrested in the operation. The sources said two navy ships were sent to aid coast guards gunboats involved in a gunfight with the pirates. A government official said the tanker was not carrying cargo when the pirates attacked it off the Yemeni coast earlier in the day. Twenty-three seafarers, including three Indians, were on board the vessel, he added. The official said the vessel was sailing from the Arabian Sea Yemeni port of Nashtoon to the southern port city of Aden when the pirates hijacked it about about 10 miles off the south-eastern port of Balhaf. According to coast guard sources, the bandits had tried to seize three other vessels sailing along with Qana, but they failed to board them. Separately, Somali pirates on Sunday freed the Yemeni tanker carrying more than 2,000 tons of diesel they seized on January 3, Yemeni officials said. Fifteen crew members were also released, the officials said. The release of the vessel, Sea Princess II, was secured through negotiations, the officials said, refusing to say whether a ransom was paid. The tanker was en route from the Gulf of Aden to Nashtoon when the pirates attacked it and diverted it to the Somali coast. The issue of piracy in the waters off Somalia, which is generally recognized as a failed state, have created an international crisis for shipping, with the US Navy and warships from European Union countries now attempting to patrol the seas off the Horn of Africa.