The Netherlands is sending a submarine to help efforts to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden, acting defence minister Eimert van Middelkoop said on Monday evening.

Van Middelkoop said the submarine would help gather vital information for anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia. The Netherlands has four submarines in its naval fleet, all equipped with state of the art listening apparatus.
The Netherlands will remain active with the Nato mission in the region for up to 18 more months, the minister said. Dutch frigates have already been responsible for the arrest of a number of pirates.
Last week, five men from Somalia were jailed by a Dutch court for five years for attempting to hijack a ship.