The German navy says it has foiled an attempt by pirates to hijack an Egyptian cargo vessel off Somalia.
Six Somali pirates were captured by sailors of the frigate Karlsruhe in the Gulf of Aden.
However, the pirates were immediately released on the orders of the German government, officials told the BBC.
Separately, three Chinese naval ships were due to leave their home port of Sanya on Thursday to protect Chinese ships off Somalia.
There have been more than 100 pirate attacks this year in the Gulf of Aden and several countries have deployed warships there.A German navy spokesperson based in Djibouti told the BBC’s Greg Morsbach the Somali attackers were disarmed by German sailors and their weapons confiscated.
“We had forces on board the frigate, and they used fast small boats, and together with the helicopter we were able to surround the pirates and disarm them,” he said.
He said the decision not to detain or arrest them was taken by the German government in Berlin.