The Premier Maitre L'Her, a French frigate patrolling the waters as part of a European Union taskforce, intercepted the would-be pirates after twice responding to a distress call from the Panamanian-flagged S. Venus.

On the first occasion, the pirates had taken flight, navy captain Christophe Prazuck, spokesman for France's general staff told AFP.

The second time round the French frigate spotted two light vessels near the cargo ship, which the crew of the cargo ship identified as the pirates' assualt craft, he added.

The French vessel intercepted the boats and arrested eight Somalis on board, confiscating six AK47 assault rifles, a rocket-launcher and rockets, a grappling hook and two boarding ladders.

The French were heading for the Somali coast to hand them over to "the authorities," said Prazuck.

In October, the French navy handed over nine suspected pirates to the authorities in the breakaway state of Puntland in the northeast of the country.

Another 12 suspected pirates are currently being held in France. They were arrested during two separate operations to free the crew of two French yachts in April and September of last year.

More than 100 attacks occurred in the pirate-infested waters off the coast of the lawless Horn of Africa country in 2008 alone.

The pirates have been undeterred by the presence of foreign navies patrolling in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in a bid to secure one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

earlier related report
Malaysian warship scares off Somali pirates: watchdog
A Malaysian warship Thursday helped Indian seamen fight off heavily-armed Somali pirates attempting to board an oil tanker, a maritime watchdog said.

It was the second time the Malaysian navy has fought off pirates in the Gulf of Aden, after it successfully repelled a group who boarded a Chinese commercial vessel on December 18.

The Indian-flagged ship was heading west towards the Suez Canal when it was attacked by pirates in two skiffs at 03:37 GMT Thursday, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Board's piracy reporting centre.

"The master of the ship said that seven pirates in one of the skiffs were dressed in military-type uniform," he told AFP.

"The small boats used machine guns to repeatedly fire at the vessel's bridge and accommodation," he added.

Choong said Malaysian navy vessel KD Inderasakti, which was leading a convoy of ships about 15 nautical miles away, responded to the tanker's distress call by launching a helicopter and steaming towards the vessel under attack.

"The pirates on noticing the helicopter stopped firing at the tanker and escaped," he said.

Choong said the Indian tanker then followed the Malaysian warship's convoy.

He said none of the crew were injured but the ship's radar system had been damaged in the hail of bullets.

"We urge vessels in the area to be on visual and radar alert for pirates as they are still able to find loopholes to attack ships as the international coalition patrolling the pirate-infested waters cannot be everywhere at the same time," he said.

Pirates have carried out more than 112 attacks in the key shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden, located between the south of Yemen and the north of Somalia, and the Indian Ocean east of Somalia since the start of 2008.

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