Crewman rescued after pirate attack off Yemen

One of four crew members who went missing from a French yacht off Yemen has been rescued after a Spanish naval vessel intercepted a pirate skiff.

The yacht was found unoccupied on Thursday by a vessel of the European Union Naval Force responding to a distress call. Yemen's coast guard said it suspected the yacht had been hijacked by pirates from Somalia, across the Gulf of Aden.

The Spanish warship SPS Galicia stopped a skiff believed to have been involved in the attack, the force said.

"One of the crew members was released safely and all of the suspect criminals were detained. The whereabouts of the remaining crew is unknown," it said. Reuters