A Chinese naval fleet set sail from the southern port of Sanya on Friday afternoon bound for Somalia, where it will join international anti-piracy operations, the government and state media said.

A German warship and helicopter on Thursday succeeded in foiling an attempt by pirates to board an Egyptian bulk carrier travelling in the troubled Gulf of Aden off Somalia's coast.

The Indian Navy in another successful anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden Saturday foiled an attack on an Ethiopian merchant vessel and arrested 23 Somali and Yemeni pirates, news reports said.<

Somali pirates have release a Greek chemical tanker but three of its crew may have died in unknown circumstances, a Kenyan maritime official said Saturday.

Somali pirates hijacked two Yemeni fishing ships and took 22 fishermen hostage in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, Yemen's Interior Ministry said.

A German tour operator said Tuesday it was allowing passengers to disembark from one of its cruise ships before it sails through the Gulf of Aden out of fear of an attack by pirates.

European Union warships will be allowed to shoot at pirates caught hijacking commercial vessels off the coast of Somalia, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday.

NATO is to deploy up to seven warships off the Somali coast to defend UN ships delivering food aid from attacks by pirates, alliance officials said Thursday.

The decision, taken by NATO defence ministers meeting in Budapest, follows a specific request from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a similar initiative agreed by the European Union last week.