Iran's naval forces have rescued an Iranian oil tanker from a pirate attack near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden off the coast of lawless Somalia, PressTV reports.
Iran’s warships foiled an attack by six pirate boats on an Iranian oil tanker 35 miles north of Bab el-Mandeb strait, Iran’s Navy announced on Saturday.
The pirates escaped the area after the Iranian navy commandos opened fire on their boats and the Iranian oil tanker managed to depart safely.
Earlier on February 5, Iran's Navy warships foiled another pirate attack on an Iranian oil tanker near the area.
In line with international efforts against piracy, Iran's Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to safeguard maritime trade and in particular ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran.
Last May, International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos described the anti-piracy efforts by Iran's Navy as “effective.”
The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for thousands of vessels traveling annually between Asia, Europe and the Americas.
However, attacks by heavily armed Somali pirates on speedboats have prompted some of the world's largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and reroute cargo vessels around southern Africa, leading to climbing shipping costs.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Iran’s warships foiled an attack by six pirate boats on an Iranian oil tanker 35 miles north of Bab el-Mandeb strait, Iran’s Navy announced on Saturday.
The pirates escaped the area after the Iranian navy commandos opened fire on their boats and the Iranian oil tanker managed to depart safely.
Earlier on February 5, Iran's Navy warships foiled another pirate attack on an Iranian oil tanker near the area.
In line with international efforts against piracy, Iran's Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to safeguard maritime trade and in particular ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran.
Last May, International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos described the anti-piracy efforts by Iran's Navy as “effective.”
The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for thousands of vessels traveling annually between Asia, Europe and the Americas.
However, attacks by heavily armed Somali pirates on speedboats have prompted some of the world's largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and reroute cargo vessels around southern Africa, leading to climbing shipping costs.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.