Copenhagen - The crew of a Danish-registered freighter Friday repelled a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, reports said.

The crew of the M/V Puma detected a small boat and tried to shake it off by tracking a zigzag course, Danish media reported.

The smaller boat however caught up with the freighter, and the crew deployed emergency flares to deter the attack while alerting international forces deployed to protect shipping lanes.

The tactic proved successful and delayed the attackers sufficiently until a helicopter from a nearby warship arrived at the scene, Per Nykjaer Jensen, chief executive of the owner Shipcraft A/S told Danish news agency Ritzau.

Initial reports suggested that the crew, three Danish officers and four Filipino nationals, were unharmed. (dpa)