The Hong Kong flagged merchant ship M/V Overseas Hercules uses fire hoses as a countermeasure against a possible pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden December 2, 2008. According to NATO headquarters in Naples, the Italian naval destroyer ITS Luigi Durand de la Penne arrived following a distress call and instructed the vessel to use its fire hoses to thwart an attack. No attack was made on the ship. [Agencies]

The Hong Kong flagged merchant ship M/V Overseas Hercules uses fire hoses as a countermeasure against a possible pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden December 2, 2008. According to NATO headquarters in Naples, the Italian naval destroyer ITS Luigi Durand de la Penne arrived following a distress call and instructed the vessel to use its fire hoses to thwart an attack. No attack was made on the ship. [Agencies]

An Italian sailor watches as the Hong Kong flagged merchant ship M/V Overseas Hercules uses fire hoses as a countermeasure against a possible pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden December 2, 2008. According to NATO headquarters in Naples, the Italian naval destroyer ITS Luigi Durand de la Penne arrived following a distress call and instructed the vessel to use its fire hoses to thwart an attack. No attack was made on the ship. [Agencies]

Pirates on speedboat approach one of their mother boats docked near Eyl, Somalia in this framegrab made from a November 24, 2008 TV footage. The enclave of Eyl is the homeground of pirates who are wreaking havoc on the waters off the coast of Somalia. Experts say that more than a dozen ships are still being held by pirates by the end of November, with dozens others having paid massive ransom for their freedom. [Agencies]

Pirates holding the crew of the Chinese fishing vessel FV Tian Yu 8 guard their hostages November 17, 2008 as the ship passes through the Indian Ocean. The ship was attacked November 16 in the US 5th Fleet area of responsibility and forced to proceed to an anchorage off the Somali coast. Picture taken November 17, 2008. [Agencies]

A video grab from an undated television footage shows pirates walking on the beach in the town of Eyl in the north of Somalia. The United Nations should send peacekeepers to Somalia urgently to stop the strife that is fuelling piracy and is being aggravated by feuding politicians, the African Union's top diplomat said on November 20, 2008. Gunmen from the chaotic Horn of Africa country grabbed world headlines with spectacular November 15 capture of a huge Saudi Arabian supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of oil, the biggest ship hijacking in history. [Agencies]

Editor: Yan