By Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece - Crewmen fired high-pressure water jets yesterday to fight off heavily armed Somali pirates trying to board a Greek oil tanker in the dangerous Gulf of Aden in the fourth pirate attack of the new year.

Armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, pirates in three speedboats twice tried to board the Greek-flagged Kriti Episkopi but were driven away when the crew turned fire hoses on them and EU aircraft scrambled from a nearby European Union naval flotilla to help, shipping company and Greek government officials said.

The attack came a day after Somali pirates seized an Egyptian cargo ship and its 28 crew in the waterway, one of the world’s most important sea routes. Also Thursday, a Malaysian military helicopter saved an Indian tanker from being hijacked and a French warship thwarted an attack on a Panamanian cargo ship and captured several pirates.

The captain of the Kriti Episkopi spotted the pirates’ speedboats just before 8 a.m. GMT. While he took evasive action to try to shake them off, Greek authorities alerted the EU naval flotilla.

“An aircraft and a helicopter reached the ship very quickly, which scared the pirates off,” a Greek Merchant Marine Ministry spokesman said. “A frigate also sped to the scene. Everything now seems to be under control, but we remain vigilant.”

More than a dozen warships from the United States, Britain, India, Iran, China, France and Germany are patrolling the area.