The bulk carrier MV Arrilah-1 came under attack at dawn Friday while en route from Australia to Dubai’s Jebel Ali port, according to the WAM news agency.

The agency said Saturday the UAE’s special forces, backed by the air force, regained control of the ship off the coast of neighboring Oman. The pirates surrendered as the troops boarded the UAE-flagged ship, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company.

“Arrilah 1 with all its crew is now heading toward the UAE coast, and the pirates are held under guard and will be handed over to the Interior Ministry,” a UAE military official said.

The pirates are under guard and will be handed over to Emirati authorities on arrival at Jebel Ali, WAM quoted an official as saying.

Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost, a spokeswoman for the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, said they were aware of a “piracy event” but had no other details. The 5th Fleet is based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain and is involved in efforts to fight piracy emanating from Somalia.

The WAM report did not say whether the pirates involved were from Somalia.

Somalia has lacked an effective central government for two decades and is awash with weapons. The chaos on land has allowed piracy to boom in the strategic waterways off its shores linking Europe to Asia and Africa.

Despite successful efforts to stem attacks in the Gulf of Aden, international navies have been unable to contain piracy in the Indian Ocean owing to the vast distances involved, and the mostly Somali pirate gangs are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms.