A Russian warship¹ has seized a pirate vessel² with 29 people on board off the Somali coast, Russian news reports say.

俄新闻报道称，一艘俄国战舰在索马里海滨抓获一艘载有29名海盗的海盗船。

International navies been moving to arrest suspected pirates

Guns and navigation equipment were found during a search of the pirate boat, officials were quoted as saying.

They said the suspected pirates were thought to have launched two unsuccessful attacks against a tanker³ with a Russian crew.

Russia is one of the countries that has deployed⁴ naval⁵ ships against pirates operating in the area.

Navies from Nato, the EU, Japan, China, India, Yemen, US Malaysia and Singapore have also been patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf⁶ of Aden.

However, the number of attacks has continued to rise.

Somali pirates have hijacked⁷ 25 vessels⁸ since the beginning of this year and are holding more than 260 crew around the stronghold of Eyl in northern Somalia, according to the International Maritime⁹ Bureau.

Naval patrols have captured pirates on a number of occasions.

Some have been put on trial in Kenya, while France has charged three suspected pirates and a Somali teenager is facing trial in the US.

Earlier on Tuesday, regional leaders in Somalia's northern Puntland region told the BBC they have put together a militia¹⁰（义勇军，自卫队） of fishermen to catch pirates.

Twelve armed pirates in two boats have been captured by the vigilante（义警警员） groups, they said.