Somali pirates board oil tanker; warship en route (AP)

Reuters - Somali pirates hijacked a Russian-owned Liberia-flagged oil tanker off the coast of east Africa on Wednesday with 23 Russian crew members on board.

Somali pirates captured a massive Russian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden early Wednesday, the European Union's anti-piracy mission said.The 106,000 tonne Moscow University was "hijacked approximately 350 nautical miles east of Socatra," an island off the Somali coast, as it made its way out of the Gulf bound for China, EUNAVFOR said."The vessel was attacked by just one skiff," said the commander of a Swedish warship taking part in the anti-piracy mission, Rear Admiral Jan Thornqvist.

Russian marines stormed a hijacked Russian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden early Thursday, killing one of the Somali pirates aboard and capturing the remaining 10, officials said.The marines from the warship Marshal Shaposhnikov exchanged fire with the pirates aboard the Moscow University after speeding in small boats to the vessel and scaling its sides in an operation lasting over three hours."The tanker was freed last night as a result of a successful armed operation by marines from the Marshal Shaposhnikov," a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry told AFP.

Reuters - A Russian shipping company said Somali pirates on Wednesday had attacked its oil tanker Moscow University in the Indian Ocean 350 miles off the coast of Yemen.