Norwegian warship in sea-battle off Somali coast: EU

BRUSSELS (AFP) – A Norwegian warship inspecting fishing boats off the coast of Somalia for suspected pirate activity was caught in heavy gunfire in the early hours of Sunday, a European Union naval commander said.

The Norwegian sailors, cruising just off the north-eastern Somali coast, were fired upon in the dead of night by a dhow with between five and seven men on board and armed with heavy weaponry and Kalashnikov rifles, he added.

"These were not innocent fishermen, they were armed with heavy machine-guns and Kalashnikovs and were clearly up to no good," said John Harbour of the EU naval mission in the Gulf of Aden, Operation Atalanta.

A statement by EU NAVFOR had earlier said "shots were fired" at the HNOMS Fridjof Nansen, 12 nautical miles east of Caluula, known locally in English as Alula.

"The area is known by the naval forces for possible illegal activity including piracy," it added.

Local Puntland region officials claimed on Sunday that a Yemeni fisherman and a Somali had been killed when "French forces opened fire."

But Harbour, who said all naval personnel escaped unharmed, said the Norwegians were unaware of any casualties -- without excluding the possibility that their attackers had been hit in self-defence.

"I have been in touch with the ship concerned," he said. "The guys in the boarding party got a shock, because they had inspected three other dhows nearby, all anchored, and all of which cooperated.

"When they approached the fourth, they were fired upon -- and clearly became nervous.

"The boarding party returned fire in self-defence -- and retreated to 1,000 metres (yards), because their main job was to escort a World Food Programme aid ship which had to keep moving.

"You are talking about guys firing automatic weapons at you -- you retreat to try and de-escalate the situation.

"We are not aware of any deaths or injuries on the dhow -- they fired back to try and keep the heads of their attackers down.

"There was no indication that anybody had been hit -- but there was no opportunity to return and assess the damage."

While Norway is not part of the 27-nation EU, it is a longstanding member of NATO -- which collaborates with the Brussels-mandated mission among a host of international anti-piracy operations in the area also extending to unilateral action by the likes of China.

Somali pirates, who have launched almost daily attacks near the Seychelles since monsoon winds dropped a month ago, currently hold a total of nine ships and around 200 people.

The Spanish government on Friday gave private security firms protecting fishing vessels the authorisation to use large-calibre weapons to prevent pirate attacks.