THE PRESS RELEASE

The Tanzanian navy captured a suspected Somali pirate on Sunday after an exchange of gunfire in the Indian Ocean south of the east African country, police said late on Monday.

The incident occurred about 70 nautical miles off the Mtwara coast in southern Tanzania where London-based, Africa-focused oil and gas explorer Ophir Energy has a vessel doing exploration work.

"The Somali pirate boat opened heavy fire on the Tanzanian navy vessel on Sunday night. The navy vessel was seriously damaged and was pierced, with at least 50 bullet holes," Mtwara Regional Police Commander Steven Buyuya told Reuters.

We cannot rule out the possibility that the Somali pirates could have been planning to kidnap expatriate workers.

Two Tanzanian soldiers were wounded in the incident.

After the clash, navy and police boats were deployed to chase the pirate boat. They arrested one suspected pirate, who was brought to Dar es Salaam for interrogation, but the others escaped, Buyuya said.