European Union forces have rescued five Somali fishermen who had been drifting in the Indian Ocean for more than a week.

The EU's anti-piracy task force says one of its aircraft spotted the fishermen's broken-down boat Tuesday while making a patrol flight. It says the German warship FGS Koln then rescued the men and brought them back to the Somali coast.

The EU says the fishermen had been drifting for nine days following the failure of their engine, without any communication equipment to call for help.

The EU force routinely patrols the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden in an effort to prevent pirate attacks. Somali pirates have made hundreds of millions of dollars hijacking ships and their crews for ransom over the past few years.