Somali Pirates: Belated Humanitarian Gesture and More Attacks

Reported as Ship fights off attack; Pirates free food aid ship:

Somali pirates attacked a Maltese flagged-ship before dawn Monday with rocket-propelled grenades, but the ship escaped unharmed, a NATO spokesman said.

And in a rare case of good news, Somali pirates released a Lebanese-owned cargo ship after only a few days after they found out it was headed to pick up food aid for hungry Somalis.

Monday's attack on the MV Atlantica took place 30 miles (48 kilometers) off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, said Lt.-Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, a spokesman for the NATO alliance.

Two boats with about six pirates each attacked the ship and one skiff attempted to board it. The ship took evasive maneuvers and escaped without damages or injury to its crew, Fernandes said.

Meanwhile, U.N. World Food Program spokesman Peter Smerdon said pirates released the Lebanese-owned MV Sea Horse on Friday. He had no more details and it was not known if a ransom was paid.

Different tribes involved in the piracy have different views on the food ships. Doesn't make them any less pirates.