 On 1 January 2009, eight Somali suspects were captured by the French frigate "Premier-Maître L'Her" as they attempted to seize a Panamanian-registered cargo ship (MV S Venus) some 50 nautical miles south of Yemen.On 14 April 2009, the French frigate "Nivôse", attached to Operation Atalanta, captured 11 suspected pirates, together with their mother ship and two skiffs, in an EU NAVFOR focused operation carried out in the Indian Ocean.The French ship responded to the distress message by the 21,000 tonne Liberia flagged MV "Safmarine Asia" which came under small arms and RPG attack from two skiffs operating from a pirate mother ship.