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| UK ship seized by Somali pirates | UK ship seized by Somali pirates |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A UK-owned ship, carrying 35,000 tons of soya, has been hijacked by Somali pirates south-west of the Seychelles, the Maritime Security Centre says. | |
| The crew were believed unharmed in the dawn attack, about 250 nautical miles (463km) from the Indian Ocean islands. | |
| It came hours after a Portuguese warship thwarted an attack on a Norwegian vessel in the Gulf of Aden. | It came hours after a Portuguese warship thwarted an attack on a Norwegian vessel in the Gulf of Aden. |
| The warship, part of a Nato patrol, destroyed explosives they discovered when they captured the pirates. | The warship, part of a Nato patrol, destroyed explosives they discovered when they captured the pirates. |
| The Portuguese warship, the Corte Real, sent a helicopter to help the oil tanker Kition after a distress call was made. | |
| The incident happened about 100 miles (161km) from the Somali coast. | |
| Blast potential | |
| The Portuguese helicopter chased the pirates back to their "mother ship", or command vessel, and briefly detained about 19 pirates, a Nato spokesman said. | |
| Explosives and grenade launchers were discovered on the mother ship when Portuguese special forces boarded "with no exchange of fire", Lt Cmdr Alexandre Santos Fernandes said. | |
| "It was almost a kilogramme of high explosives. If used correctly it can open a hole in the hull of a ship and sink her," Lt Cmdr Fernandes said. | |
| "It is the first time we have spotted high explosives on board a pirate ship, normally they just stick to AK-47s and RPGs (grenades)." | |
| The 19 pirate suspects were released because they had not attacked Portuguese property or citizens. |