Prosecutor Per Fiig said on Monday that a suspected Nigerian pirate caught during a deadly shootout in the Gulf of Guinea has been charged with endangering the lives of Danish sailors.

The 39-year-old who lost a leg in the clash with the Danish navy last November faces up to eight years in jail.

Danish authorities said four other pirates were killed and one more went overboard from the Danish frigate Esbern Snare on an anti-piracy patrol in international waters off West Africa.

According to the Maritime Information Cooperation and Awareness Centre, the Gulf of Guinea, a piracy hotspot covering 5,700 kilometers (3,540 miles) from Senegal to Angola, witnessed 52 attacks in 2021, down from 115 the previous year.