A cruise ship sailing off Somalia has beaten back gunmen in speedboats who opened fire on it in an apparent pirate attack which terrified passengers.
At least two boats closed in on the Seabourn Spirit, reportedly firing automatic
weapons and a rocket-propelled grenade.
But crew took evasive action, repelling the attackers without returning fire.
One crew member was lightly injured in the early-morning incident in waters notorious for pirate attacks.
The ship was hit by bullets but not, apparently, by the rocket-propelled grenade.
It used an on-board loud acoustic bang to deter the gunmen.
A scheduled stop in Mombasa, in neighbouring Kenya, has been cancelled and the cruise, which began in the Egyptian port of Alexandria is now due to end in the Seychelles on Monday.
It is carrying 302 passengers and crew, most of them are believed to be Americans as well as some Britons.
'Not terrorism'
The attack happened about 100 miles (160km) off the Somali coast.
David Dingle, a spokesman for the Miami-based company Seabourn Cruises, said
passengers were "somewhat surprised and shocked" when they woke
to find the ship under attack at 0530 (0230 GMT) on Saturday.
"The passengers were mustered in a public room, told what was going on and reassured that we were fighting off the attack," he said.
"They were shocked but no passengers were injured whatsoever.
"We are extremely pleased that all the measures worked."
He added that the company had no reason to believe it was a terrorist attack and all the evidence pointed to pirates.
It appears to be the first attack on a luxury cruise liner in the area.
The Seafarers' Assistance Programme (SAP) is due to discuss the incident and its implications for tourism in the region on Monday, Kenyan SAP official Andrew Mwangura told AFP news agency.
At least 23 hijackings and attempted seizures have been recorded off the Somali coast since mid-March, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which has warned ships to stay as far away from the coast as possible.
"The southern coastline is among the most dangerous in the world," said Mr Mwangura.
Somalia has been without a functioning central authority since 1991 when
warlords took power after Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted.
© Gigaware™ Ltd 2005