(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) An Italian-flagged cargo vessel was the victim of a suspected piracy incident on Friday afternoon, approximately 115 nautical miles from the coast of Salalah, with reports stating that the approach was thwarted by embarked armed security contractors.
During the incident the cargo ship was chased by a pirate action group, consisting of three skiffs, which moved astern of the vessel, forcing it to undertake evasive manoeuvres. Two skiffs then moved to the left and right sides of the cargo ship, at which point an embarked guard fired flares and warning shots, resulting in the skiffs moving away.
Air and sea units attached to multinational counter-piracy missions deployed to the region responded and arrived on scene after the incident. The cargo vessel was described as ‘safe'.
Meanwhile another incident was reported by the NATO Shipping Centre, when a merchant vessel reported a suspicious approach on Thursday morning by three white skiffs, 37 nautical miles off Ras al Hadd.
The vessel sounded its horn as the skiffs continued to close, before the approach was aborted when warning shots were fired by the embarked security contractors.
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