Paris/Sana'a - The French naval prevented a pirate attack on a freighter in the Gulf of Aden and handed over eight suspected pirates to Somali authorities, French officials reported Friday.

A French warship, part of the EU Atalanta anti-piracy mission, intervened after the captain of the Panama-flagged freighter sent several emergency signals.

The warship's crew detained the suspected pirates, who were heavily armed on a small boat, the officials quoted by broadcaster France Info said. The suspects also possessed material to board other ships.

In remarks published earlier Friday in Yemen's al-Thawra daily, the commander of Yemen's coast guard force said Somali pirates released a second Yemeni fishing ship without ransom, more than two weeks after they hijacked the two ships in the Gulf of Aden.

Brigadier General Ali Rasea'a said the pirates freed the MV Qana'a without receiving any ransom.

He said the ship arrived in the southern Yemeni port of Aden late on Wednesday with eight crew members on board.

The ship was hijacked along with another fishing ship in the Gulf of Aden on December 10.

The other ship, the MV Falluja, was released on December 27 with 12 crewmen on board. Yemeni officials said later that no ransom was paid for the ship's release.

The pirates attacked the ships as they sailed off the Mait area near the southern port city of Aden.

Before the pirates took control of the ships, seven fishermen escaped on a small boat to report the attacks to the Yemeni Coast Guard Authority in Aden.

Rasa'a said the motive behind the hijacking of the two ships was not ransom.

"The pirates intended to use the ships as mother ships for their attacks on merchant ships crossing the Gulf of Aden," he was quoted as saying.

Last moth, Somali pirates freed a Yemeni cargo ship two weeks after they hijacked it in the Arabian Sea and demanded 2 million dollars in ransom.

Yemeni officials said it was released without ransom after negotiations between the pirates and Somali tribal leaders. (dpa)