ROME鈥擝ritish and US commandos raided a hijacked Italian vessel off the coast of Somalia on Tuesday, capturing the pirates and freeing the carrier鈥檚 crew of 23, the Italian government said.
鈥淭he vessel has been freed鈥� thanks to the joint intervention of two ships from the United States and British navies鈥� operating as part of NATO鈥檚 anti-piracy operations, Ocean Shield, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The pirates, said to be 11, 鈥済ave themselves up and are being held in detention,鈥� the statement added.
Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa told journalists at a press conference that the US and British commandos had used helicopters to judge the danger a raid would pose to the crew, but had met no resistance from the pirates.
鈥淎 British helicopter flew over the bridge and the pirates gave themselves up immediately,鈥� he said.
鈥淪ome had already thrown their weapons into the sea,鈥� he added.
In London, the Ministry of Defense said the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessel Fort Victoria boarded the MV Montecristo without opposition after responding to a call for help from the Italian ship and a US Navy frigate.
鈥淒ue to the presence of the warships, 11 suspected pirates on board the pirated vessel surrendered without force,鈥� an MoD spokesman said.
鈥淲e are relieved, but have not yet been able to contact the crew,鈥� said a spokesman for the Tuscany-based D鈥橝lesio shipping company. 鈥淚n the meantime we鈥檙e contacting the families,鈥� he added.
The Montecristo was traveling from Liverpool to Vietnam with a cargo of scrap iron when it was captured about 620 miles east of the Somali coast on Monday, with a crew of seven Italians, 10 Ukrainians and six Indian nationals.
Four of the Italians were security guards but they were unarmed and served as look-outs for potential attacks, Italian media said.
鈥淭he crew used tricks out of a film, throwing a bottle in the sea鈥� with an SOS message inside, La Russa said, adding that they had then barricaded themselves in.
鈥淭he pirates had made no demands鈥� and will be handed over to the authorities,鈥� he added.
Italy鈥檚 Foreign Minister Franco Frattini described the raid as 鈥渁n important operation in international anti-piracy collaboration鈥� and praised the British and American commandos for the mission鈥檚 success.
Earlier on Tuesday, Italy鈥檚 shipowners鈥� association Confitarma announced it was signing a protocol with the defense ministry to allow military forces to travel aboard ships in dangerous areas to ward off pirate attacks.
Ten teams of six Italian marines will be on standby to be stationed on vessels sailing in risk areas.
Pirates have hijacked several Italian vessels this year.
On April 21 Somali pirates captured an Italian cargo ship headed for Iran with 21 crew on board, including six Italians, in the Arabian Sea near Oman.
And in February, pirates wielding rocket-launchers seized a large Italian oil tanker with a crew of five Italians and 17 Indians east off the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean.
After that attack, Italy鈥檚 Confitarma called for ships to have armed guards aboard.