(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles' Supreme Court set on Thursday morning the trial date of six suspected Somali pirates for mid-January 2025.

The five men - who have pleaded not guilty - were involved in an attack on the Marshall Islands-registered tanker Chrystal Arctic on May 10.

The six suspected pirates were handed over to the Seychelles authorities on May 14 by EU NAVFOR's Operation ATALANTA. 

At the time of their apprehension, the Seychelles Police revealed that the suspects were aged 20 to 40 years and three among them were taken to the hospital for treatment of the injuries on their bodies.

Operation ATALANTA has legal agreements with different nations in the Area of Operations, one of them being Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. This allows for the trial of suspected pirates arrested by warships joining the operation.