WRAPUP 1-Chinese ship rescued from pirates in Gulf of Aden

* International forces rescue hijacked Chinese vessel

* Three other ships seized

* United Nations gives green light to pursue pirates on land

By David Clarke

NAIROBI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A multilateral force rescued a Chinese ship from Somali pirates on Wednesday, in a sign foreign navies patrolling the shipping lane linking Europe to Asia are adopting tougher new tactics.

The Chinese boat Zhenhua 4 was one of four vessels seized by pirates on Tuesday, the same day the United Nations Security Council took a strong stand against the attacks and authorised countries to pursue the gunmen on land.

A Kenyan maritime group said the crew locked themselves in their cabins and radioed for help. A warship and two helicopters came and fired on the pirates, but did not kill them, it said.

Chinese state media said a "multilateral" force with helicopters hovered over the ship and successfully fought off the pirates.

Rampant piracy off the coast of Somalia this year has earned gunmen millions of dollars in ransom, hiked shipping insurance costs and caused international alarm.

The seizures have prompted some of the world's biggest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and send cargo vessels around southern Africa instead -- which could push up the cost of commodities and manufactured goods.

Foreign navies have rushed to patrol shipping lanes off the Horn of Africa nation, but have had little impact so far on the pirates who mostly operate out of northern Somalia.

According to the Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance programme, there have been 124 incidents of piracy off Somali this year and some 60 successful hijacks.

Nearly 400 people and 19 ships are being held along the coast, including a Saudi supertanker with 2 million barrels of oil and a Ukrainian cargo ship with 33 tanks.

VERY ROBUST APPROACH