Pirates initially took control of the vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday morning along with its crew of fourteen Indian seafarers.
But the master of the Indian dhow had sent out an alert later that same morning, saying that it was under attack from twelve armed pirates.
Upon hearing the alert, Royal Swedish Navy warship, HSwMS Carlskrona, which is part of the EU’s counter piracy mission, Operation Atalanta, approached the dhow.
“As the helicopter from the Carlskrona overflew the scene, the pirates, now under increasing pressure from military forces, forced the master to close the Somali coast so they could abandon the dhow in the dead of night,” EU officials said.
“Shortly afterwards, the Indian master was able to report to the EU Naval Force that all the pirates had left his ship and that none of his crew were injured.”
NATO officials said dhows have been used in the past as a mother ship to enable pirates to sail further out to sea to attack passing ships.
Speaking about the incident, the Operation Commander of the EU Naval Force, Rear Admiral Bob Tarrant, said: “This latest attack once again shows that the threat from piracy is real. We must all remain vigilant.”
Earlier in the week there were several reported approaches on larger merchant vessels transiting through the Gulf of Aden.
However, there have been no attacks where skiffs have either fired upon merchant vessels or attempted to board the ships.
