20100205

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Danish naval ship rescued a Barbados-flagged merchant vessel off Somalia on Friday after it came under attack by pirates, NATO said.

The master of the Ariella had sent out a distress call saying that pirates armed with guns had boarded his ship and he needed urgent assistance, a NATO statement said.

The Danish warship Absalon launched a helicopter, which located a suspected pirate skiff and fired warning shots, Commander Mikael Bill at Danish fleet headquarters said.

The crew had managed to lock themselves away in a safe room, and the warship sent a team of specially trained forces to board the ship and regain control.

A search of the vessel turned up no pirates, Bill said, and the Ariella was being handed back to its crew.

Nobody was injured, Bill said. He had no information about what had happened to the pirates or their skiff.

The Danes are part of a NATO force patrolling the waters off the Horn of Africa where pirates have seized large numbers of merchant vessels in recent years.