Spanish tuna boat repels pirate attack: captain

Private security guards aboard a Spanish tuna fishing vessel repelled Sunday an attack from pirates in the Indian Ocean, the boat's captain said.

Captain Santi Gamboa described on Spanish national radio how the crew of the boat, the Txori Argi, had seen several skiffs heading towards them from a mother ship.

"We fired several warning shots and they turned around," he said. The boat had four private security guards onboard, he said.

"We are fine," he said of the crew of 30.

The incident was about 80 nautical miles off the coast of the Seychelles, part of an area of the Indian Ocean that has seen dozens of attacks on passing ships, several of which have been seized for ransom.

Last year another Spanish tuna fishing vessel, the Alakrana, and its crew of 36 was taken hostage for more than a month off the coast of Somalia, where pirates have bases.

They were freed after paying a ransom of four million dollars, according to the Somali pirates who had captured them.

Spanish boats do not carry soldiers when they travel through the dangerous area, unlike French vessels who are protected by French Marines.

But Madrid allows private security guards to carry weapons on the vessels to protect the boats.