DUBAI, Jan 22: The US Navy boarded an apparent pirate ship in the Indian Ocean and detained 26 men for questioning, a navy official said on Sunday. The 16 Indians and 10 Somali men were aboard a traditional dhow that was chased and seized on Saturday by the US guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, said Lt Leslie Hull-Ryde of US Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.

The dhow stopped fleeing after the Churchill twice fired warning shots during the chase, which ended 87 kilometres off the coast of Somalia, the US Navy said. US sailors boarded the dhow and seized a cache of small arms.

The dhow’s crew and passengers were being questioned on Sunday aboard the Churchill to determine which were pirates and which were legitimate crew members, Hull-Ryde said.—APP