A Greek navy frigate fired on two drones approaching the ship in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday morning, with one shot down, the second unmanned aerial vehicle then turned away.

The Ministry of Defence in Athens said in a report by Greek radio (ERT).

The frigate continued its mission, it added.

The frigate was escorting a merchant ship as part of the EU naval mission Aspides, which aimed to protect merchant ships from attacks by the militant Islamist Houthi from Yemen.

The Gulf of Aden, off the Yemeni coast, links the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea.

Houthi militants have been attacking ships in the Red Sea region in what they said was retaliation for Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.

Major shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe and sailing the much longer journey around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope instead.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia said they wanted to force an end to the Israeli attacks in Gaza, which followed the unprecedented massacre by the Palestinian Islamist organisation Hamas last October.

Several Western countries, including the U.S. and Britain, have launched operations to protect ships in the region in response to the Houthi attacks. 

The European Union has also deployed a military operation to secure merchant shipping in the Red Sea. 

(dpa/NAN)