The Danish controlled vessel Brattingsborg was yesterday attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean, but managed to escape as the pirates was met by counter fire from armed guards hired by Dannebrog Rederi A/S.

The Brattingsborg was attacked 25 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen while on a voyage from Aqaba in Jordan to Mumbai in India.

“It is the first time we have hired armed guards for our vessels, but in the light of the attack it seems to be a correct decision”, says Lars Steen Rasmussen, CEO of Dannebrog, to Maritimedanmark.dk.

The Brattingsborg, 12,500 DWT, is built in Talzhou in China as part of a series of six sister ships. The series is built for a Singapore-based leasing company and chartered to Dannebrog Rederi A/S and their liner branch Nordana Line. The ship flies the Singapore flag and is manned with a crew from Thailand.