Greek warship stops suspected pirates: EU

(BRUSSELS) - A Greek warship stopped a suspected pirate ship near the Seychelles and destroyed one of its fast boats before releasing its crew, the European Union naval mission said Thursday.

The Greek frigate Adrias was led to the so-called pirate "mother-ship," some 260 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles, by a patrol aircraft on Wednesday and crew boarded the suspect vessel.

"The nine people were taken aboard and questioned. All pirate paraphernalia has been seized, and a skiff destroyed," said British Royal Navy Commander John Harbour.

"We have now relased all the people and allowed them to keep their small boat... and continue back to Somalia," he said.

The EU naval mission said in a statement that the boarding came a day after a failed attack on a French cargo ship, the MV Eclipse. The attackers fled under fire from armed guards on the vessel.

Members of the European parliament called Thursday for the EUNAVFOR mission to be bolstered and its area of operations widened.

In an address to the parliament on November 16, EUNAVFOR Operation Commander Rear Admiral Peter Hudson warned that pirates operating in waters off Somalia are becoming increasingly "crafty" and "extending their horizon."

His warning came a week after pirates launched two of their longest-range attacks ever on vessels in the Gulf of Aden, fully 1,000 nautical miles off the coast of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

The world's naval powers last year deployed warships in the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb attacks by pirates in the crucial maritime trade route.

Pirates have since shifted their focus to the wider Indian Ocean, a huge area much more difficult to patrol, and have ventured as far as the Seychelles and beyond.