The shooting happened when HMS Cumberland and Russian frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) were conducting a routine NATO-led patrol in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday and spotted a dhow which had been identified in an attempt to hijack a Danish vessel, the MV Powerful, earlier in the day.

"I commend the crew of the Cumberland for the action they have taken while defending a Danish ship against pirates," Scheffer said, in a message read by one of his staff.

"They carried out their mission with courage and professionalism. This incident demonstrates NATO's determination to play its part in deterring piracy off the Somali coast, as the United Nations has asked us to do," he said.

The British defence ministry said in a statement that its 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," it 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.

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