A statement by the international anti-piracy task force says the 24 crew members on the MV Guanabara took refuge in a protected part of the vessel after reporting they were under attack Saturday.

A special unit from the destroyer USS Bulkeley boarded the tanker Sunday and detained the suspected pirates about 328 nautical miles southeast of Duqm in southern Oman.

The statement said no shots were fired and the merchant crew was not harmed.

The Bulkeley is part of an Bahrain-based multinational flotilla fighting piracy from Somalia.