Yemeni Interior Ministry said Wednesday that a French Frigate handed over four Somali pirates to the Yemeni Coast Guard Forces after it captured them in the international waters close to Rodom coast in Shabwa governorate.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard Sector in the Gulf of Aden spokesman said that his sector received a distress call from an Iranian military ship while it was sailing 40 mile off Aden Port, pointing out that the Iranian ship found a dead body floating on the water. "The Iranian ship requested Yemeni authorities to send a helicopter to take the corpse," the source said.

"I'll be a pirate until I die. We are not animals," a Somali pirate who goes by the name Abshir was cited as saying.

"We understand what we're doing is wrong. But hunger is more important than any other thing," he said.

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has cost Yemen $350 million, a sum that includes $200 million in losses suffered by fishermen, official documents indicated.

Government reports cited by Saba, Yemen's official news agency showed that direct government losses from maritime piracy amounted to $150 million. Also included in the total was costly piracy insurance purchased for ships that carry out the pirate-infested gulf waters.

According to the same sources, Yemen has moved to secure its regional waterways despite dealing with a fragile economy, using scarce funds to enhance its marine forces by building security centers along its coast and by purchasing boats worth more than $150 million.

Pirate attacks came despite international patrols, including U.S., European, Chinese, Russian and Indian ships, international watchdogs said, adding that the higher attacks worldwide were due mainly to increased Somali pirate activity off the Gulf of Aden.