NATO task force frees Italian ship seized by pirates

The Italian ship seized on Monday by a group of Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden was freed on Tuesday in a blitz action carried out by a NATO task force, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. The operation forced the 11 armed pirates on board to surrender, liberating the 23 crew members, seven of whom are Italian, of the Montecristo ship. The pirates have been arrested by NATO task force operating in the anti-piracy operation dubbed Ocean Shield mission, and all crew members are in good health conditions, Foreign Ministry said. The Italian government is satisfied with the "brilliant operation and the successful cooperation between different institutional actors", and also happy with the fact the owner of the ship and crew members' families finally end their nightmare, the statement said. The Montecristo, heading from the Suez Canal towards Vietnam on Monday, was captured some 620 km off the Somali coast when it had just been escorted there by another Japanese boat into the Gulf of Aden. There are other two Italian ships currently still in the hands of pirates In a bid to boost safety on board Italian vessels, Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa on Tuesday signed an agreement with the confederation of Italian ship owners to put military guards on all ships heading towards areas of at risk of pirate attacks.