New Delhi - The Indian Navy foiled an attack by pirates off the Somali coast and sunk their ship, news reports said Wednesday.

The Indian Navy's INS Tabar stealth frigate, which has been deployed in the Gulf of Aden, was fired at by pirates late Tuesday, the IANS news agency reported.

The INS Tabar returned fire and sank the pirate vessel, a navy official told the IANS.

The NDTV network reported that there were at least three pirate vessels that had attacked the Indian ship.

The strike was the second successful one by the Indian Navy against pirates in Somali waters.

Last week, the INS Tabar staved off an attack by Somali pirates on two merchant vessels - one from India and another from Saudi Arabia.

The Indian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, which links the Middle East with Asia and Europe, since late October as the region has seen a spate of pirate attacks on merchant vessels off the coast of Somalia.

A Japanese-owned ship, Stolt Valor, which had 18 Indian sailors aboard, was freed by Somali hijackers Sunday, nearly two months after it had been seized, after its shipping company reportedly paid a ransom of 2.5 million dollars.

On Tuesday, Somali pirates seized two new ships after they hijacked the Saudi Arabian supertanker Sirius Star, which was carrying 100 million dollars of oil, on Saturday.

The International Maritime Bureau recently described the region as "the number one piracy danger zone" with 26 vessels hijacked and 537 crew members taken hostage by Somali pirates from July to September. (dpa)