PARIS — Private security guards aboard a merchant ship plying the pirate-infested waters off Somalia shot dead one of several attackers trying to seize the vessel, the European Union Naval Force in the area said Wednesday. The killing was thought to have been the first involving private contractors, the naval force said.
The death could escalate the struggle between pirates and merchant shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, where cargo ships increasingly carry private security teams. Some maritime organizations believe the presence of armed contractors may make pirates adopt more aggressive tactics. The death of the attacker also raised legal questions about the accountability of private teams, a United Nations official said.
The episode happened early on Tuesday when the Almezaan, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship heading for Mogadishu, Somalia, came under attack from pirates using high-speed skiffs controlled by a mother ship, the British-based naval force said in a statement on its Web site.
Twice, the pirates attacked the vessel and twice they were repulsed as a Spanish frigate, the Navarra, sped toward the scene, Cmdr. John Harbour of Britain’s Royal Navy, the spokesman for the naval force, said in a telephone interview.
“Normally, the private security firms fire warning shots” to repel pirates, he said. But on Tuesday, “the pirates came for a second time firing their guns, and the security team fired back,” he said. Asked if the killing was the first by a private security team, he said, “I believe that is the case.”
A helicopter from the Navarra located the pirates and fired warning shots while a team from the frigate went aboard the pirates’ boats. In one pirate skiff, which was riddled with bullets, the boarding party found three pirates and the body of a fourth who had been hit by small arms fire, Commander Harbour said.
Six pirates were arrested and their ships were sunk. The spokesman said he did not know the nationalities of the private security team members.
While several pirates have died in encounters with international naval forces, Arvinder Sambei, a legal consultant for the United Nations’ antipiracy program, said the role of private security operatives this time “will be scrutinized very closely,” The Associated Press reported.
“There’s always been concern about these companies,” she said. “Who are they responsible to?”
Ms. Sambei continued, “The bottom line is somebody has been killed and someone has to give an accounting of that.”
A private security guard, defending the Panamanian based ''MV Almezaan'', killed a Somali pirate who was attempting to hijack the ship on Tuesday. This is the first time that a private contractor has killed a pirate in the Gulf of Aden.

The pirates came up to the ship with two small vessels and one large "mother-ship".  As the small boats approached the ''Almezaan'', the ship's contractors opened fire, and killed one of the pirates.  Then European Union and Yemeni naval vessels surrounded the pirates, who attempted to flee. They were then apprehended.

The EU's Naval Force Somalia released a statement saying that "the body has been transferred to the Spanish naval ship ''Navarra'', an investigation indicated that the individual had died from small caliber gunshot wounds."

The incident came after pirates captured Turkish and Bermudan ships earlier Tuesday, capturing a total of 46 people.