French forces with Somali pirates captured in the Gulf of Aden

PARIS: The French Navy has captured 35 suspected pirates in three days of operations off the coast of Somalia — the biggest haul in the two years since EU naval ships started patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

In operations over the weekend the Nivose, a French frigate, seized four mother ships and six skiffs. In one raid on Sunday, French and EU forces used helicopters and fired warning shots to stop and capture a mother ship and two accompanying vessels.

The prisoners are expected to be flown to Kenya, which is already prosecuting about 100 pirates on behalf of Western nations with forces in the area.

French naval commanders praised the action by the Nivose. “The pirates are learning that we are not a soft touch,” said a spokesman in Paris.

The French Navy and special forces have captured nearly 100 pirates and killed half a dozen since a luxury French yacht was captured in April 2008. About ten pirates are awaiting trial in French jails.

Despite the operations, pirates continued to launch attacks on vessels in the busy West African shipping lanes. On Friday they seized the UBT Ocean, a Norwegian-owned oil tanker, off Madagascar and sailed her towards the Somali coast.

The UBT Ocean, registered in the Marshall islands, was carrying oil from the United Arab Emirates to Tanzania when it was attacked, said Brovigtank, its owners, adding that they had received a call from the captain who said there were pirates on board. “Very quickly afterwards we lost all contact with the boat,” a company spokesman said.