Around 1,500 cruise ship passengers were saved by the defensive manouvring of an Italian captain and his crew over the weekend.

Captain Ciro Pinto told the BC how six armed men approached the ship in a speedboat but were repelled by the crew firing guns into the air and spraying the attackers with water cannon.

No one was hurt in the incident, which took place on Saturday around 290 miles north of the Seychelles.

For the full story on Italian cruise ship foils pirate attack see the BBC website

Pirates also launched attacks on Yemeni oil tankers over the weekend, leading to several gun battles with Yemeni Coastguards.

Two pirates were killed and three wounded in clashes with the Coastguard as gunmen attempted to seize four ships and were repelled from three of them.

Yemeni special forces eventually recaptured the fourth tanker and arrested nine pirates.

For the full story on Yemeni Special forces retake tanker see the BBC website.