Pirates aboard two skiffs fired shots at the Oceania Nautica in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday morning, Miami-based Oceania Cruises said.

Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky said an officer on duty aboard the 30,000-ton Nautica spotted two small boats with outboard motors approaching on a path to intercept the cruise ship. One came approximately 300 yards from the Nautica and fired eight shots in the direction of the ship, but the captain ordered the ship to speed up and it soon outran the assailants, he said.

''They didn't hit the ship. There was no damage, and no one was injured,'' Rubacky said.

Oceania said the Nautica had left Safaga, which is the port for Luxor, Egypt, and was heading to Oman along a protected shipping lane when the attack occurred. ''A coalition of anti-piracy forces patrol there on a regular basis,'' he said.

Oceania said it immediately reported the incident to international authorities. Rubacky said its crews are trained in anti-piracy measures and its ships ''are equipped with the latest anti-piracy technology.'' He declined to be specific.

The Gulf of Aden, a part of the Indian Ocean that links to the Red Sea, runs between Somalia and Yemen and has seen a rising tide of pirate attacks in recent years.

''The Gulf of Aden is the only viable gateway from the Mediterranean to Asia, plain and simple,'' Rubacky said. ``It's a gateway to Arabia and the Far East and that's a region a lot of people want to see.''

The Nautica, an upscale vessel carrying 684 passengers and 400 crew, continued on its 32-night voyage from Rome to Singapore. However, the cruise ship canceled plans to stop in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, in the wake of terrorist attacks there last week.

Pirates have made other attempts on cruise ships in the region, including an attack three years ago.

On Nov. 5, 2005, the Seabourn Spirit was 70 to 100 miles off Somalia when a band of pirates brandishing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades attacked it in the early morning.

The Spirit escaped to the Seychelles after crew members fended them off with hoses and a sonic device that blasts painfully loud noise in a directed beam. None of the 151 passengers on board was reported to be injured. A U.S. Navy team found remnants of a grenade lodged in the ship.

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