News Service from House Harris

Fed: Australians caught in cruise ship piracy bid off Somalia

MELBOURNE, April 26 AAP/AFP - Seventy-four Australians are among more than 1,500 people caught up in the failed hijack of an Italian cruise ship in the Indian Ocean.

Israeli security staff aboard the cruise ship MSC Melody repelled the attack by Somali pirates shortly after 4.30am (AEST) on Sunday.

The ship was en route from Durban in South Africa to the Italian port city of Genoa, and was 180 nautical miles (330km) from its last port of call in The Seychelles.

The Melody's captain, Pinto Cira, confirmed the attack.

"We have a pirate attack," he told the Nine Network.

A speedboat with six pirates armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles pulled alongside the vessel and tried to board, firing at least 200 shots as they did so.

"They fired, shooting from the boat and coming on the bridge. They shooting I think at least 200 (rounds) where we all stand including me on the bridge," Mr Cira said.

The captain began a zig-zag evasive manoeuvre as the security personnel on the ship fought back, firing shots overhead until the pirates fled.

One passenger and a crew member were injured by broken glass from windows shattered by the gunfire, Mr Cira said.

There were 991 passengers and 536 crew aboard the vessel.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says that of those, 69 passengers and five crew members are Australians who may be dual citizens and travelling on other passports.

A DFAT spokesman said the owners of the vessel, MSC Cruises, had announced there were no injuries aboard the vessel.

But Australian embassy staff in Rome and Washington, and staff from Australia's High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya, were working to confirm the welfare of any Australians on board.

"We have travel advice on travelling by sea which includes strong warnings of the dangers of piracy particularly in and around Somali waters and the Gulf of Aden," the DFAT spokesman said.

The Melody is continuing its voyage with a Spanish navy escort.

The attempted hijack is the latest in a series of piracy incidents in the region, off Africa's east coast.

Pirates have flourished off Somalia because no effective government has been in place in the war-ravaged nation since 1991.

Somali pirates attacked more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden last year, an increase of more than 200 per cent on 2007, despite a heavy international naval presence, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy.