A German military helicopter helped the Turkish navy foil an attempt by pirates to hijack a Turkish cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden early Friday, local media the Hurriyet Daily News reported on its website.

The German helicopter received an alert by the Turkish navy frigate TGC Gediz operating in the region and thwarted the attack on the Turkish-flagged "Elgiznur Cebi", which was en route to Saudi Arabia's Ad Damman Port from the Yuzhny Port in Ukraine, said the report, citing a statement by Turkey's Undersecretariat for Maritime Affairs.

Nineteen crew members, all of them Turks, were safe and unhurt, said the report.

Somali pirates seized a Turkish bulk carrier "Horizon-1" with 23 Turkish crew on board on July 8, negotiations for a ransom settlement are under way, added the report.

Turkey currently has two frigates in the Gulf of Aden as part of international naval forces to fight pirates and Somali arms traffickers.

Last year, three Turkish vessels were hijacked in the region with the last one being released in February.

Piracy has become rampant off the coast of Africa, especially in the waters near Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991. Ransoms started out in tens of thousands of dollars and have since climbed into millions.

An estimated total of 25,000 ships annually cruise the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia's northern coast.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2009)