( CNN ) -- The French Navy captured 11 suspected pirates off the coast of Kenya Wednesday , the French Ministry of Defense announced . The French frigate Nivose , pictured last year patrolling the Gulf of Aden . The Navy tracked the pirates overnight after they attacked a ship called the Safmarine Asia . The French launched a helicopter from the frigate Nivose to head off the attack Tuesday night , then seized the suspected pirates Wednesday morning , the statement said . Both the European Union and the United States have been patrolling the region since an upsurge in piracy off the coast of Somalia last year . U.S. snipers killed three pirates holding a U.S. ship captain hostage Sunday . The captain , Richard Phillips , was held in a lifeboat for days after his ship , the Maersk Alabama , was seized last week . But pirates in Somalia vowed revenge , saying that an attack on another ship , the Liberty Sun , was a response to the killing of Phillips ' captors . `` It was a revenge , '' Hassan Mohamud told a Somali journalist . `` The U.S. ship escaped by a matter of chance . ''
French Ministry of Defense says they were captured off the coast of U.S. . Navy tracked pirates overnight after they attacked ship called the Safmarine Asia . Helicopter launched from frigate Wednesday morning ; three captured Tuesday .