NAIROBI (Kenya) - THE small white skiff approached the Italian cruise ship Melody after dinnertime as it sailed north of the Seychelles, the pirates firing wildly toward the 1,500 passengers and crew on board. What the pirates didn't expect was that, in the darkness, the crew would fire back.

In a new twist to the increasing scourge of Somali pirate hijackings, the private Israeli security forces aboard the MSC Cruises ocean liner fired on the pirates Saturday with pistols and water hoses, preventing them from clambering aboard, the company's director Domenico Pellegrino said.

TO ARM OR NOT TO ARM? But analysts say the unprecedented use of weapons by the ship's security force could make things worse in the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa, where over 100 ships were attacked last year by Somalia-based pirates. In nearly all the hijackings, the crews were unharmed and were let go after a ransom was paid. ... more GROWING BOLDNESS AND SKILL Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the US Navy 5th Fleet, noted that the distance from the Somali coast - 500 miles - was a sign of the pirates' increasing skill. Until last year, the majority of pirate attacks occurred within 100 miles of the Somali shore but he said that last fall there had been a 'definite shift in their tactical capabilities'. ... more

'It was an emergency operation,' Pellegrino told The Associated Press. 'They didn't expect such a quick response. They were surprised.'

Passengers were ordered to return to their cabins and the lights on deck were switched off. The massive vessel then sailed on in darkness, eventually escorted by a Spanish warship to make sure it made it to its next port.

'It felt like we were in war,' the ship's Italian Commander, Ciro Pinto, told Italian state radio.

None of the roughly 1,000 passengers were hurt and by Sunday afternoon they were back out on deck sunning themselves, Mr Pellegrino said.

The attack occurred near the Seychelles and about 500 miles (800 kilometres) east of Somalia, according to the anti-piracy flotilla headquarters of the Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa. The Melody was travelling up Africa's east coast, from Durban, South Africa to Genoa, Italy.

Mr Pinto said the pirates fired 'like crazy' with automatic weapons, slightly damaging the liner, when they approached in a small, white Zodiac-like boat.

'After about four or five minutes, they tried to put a ladder up,' Mr Pinto told Sky TG24. 'They were starting to climb up but we reacted, we started to fire ourselves. When they saw our fire, and also the water from the water hoses that we started to spray toward the Zodiac, they left and went away... They followed us for a bit, about 20 minutes,' he said. -- AP