(SomaliNet) An Italian naval destroyer responding to a merchant vessel's distress signal prevented a likely pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, NATO says. In a statement, the military alliance says that the Panama-flagged merchant ship Kirti was sailing toward Suez on Saturday afternoon when it reported two skiffs attempting to approach it at high speed. The Italian destroyer Luigi Durand de la Penne was patrolling nearby as part of NATO's anti-piracy operation and immediately scrambled its helicopter. NATO says the skiffs changed course and left after seeing the helicopter.
Somalia has become a world piracy hotspot, with at least 85 attacks on ships this year. Twelve vessels remain in the hands of pirates along with more than 200 crew.