The HMS Cumberland was conducting a routine NATO-led patrol in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday when it spotted a dhow which had been identified in an attempt to hijack a Danish vessel, the MV Powerful, earlier in the day.

The defence ministry said in a statement that the British ship had used "non-forcible methods" in an attempt to stop the dhow, and boats were then launched to circle and intercept the vessel.

"These boats were fired at from the dhow and the crews returned fire in self defence," the statement said.

"Two foreign nationals, believed to be Somali pirates, were shot and killed in self defence."

A Yemeni man was also found injured and later died, although the defence ministry said it was unclear whether he had sustained his injuries in the firefight "or in a previous incident involving the pirates".

Piracy is rife in the region where Somalia's northeastern tip juts into the Indian Ocean, on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal.

The pirates are equipped with speedboats and armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.

A Turkish-flagged tanker with a 14-man crew became the latest victim of the pirates when it was hijacked off Yemen on Wednesday, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Last month, a maritime watchdog said Somali pirates were responsible for nearly a third of all reported attacks on ships.

HMS Cumberland is the current British contribution to the NATO mission in the Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA), which provides security to shipping crossing the Gulf of Aden.

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