NAIROBI, Kenya — The French Navy captured nine pirates near the Gulf of Aden today and a Somali pirate warned that if a hijacked Ukrainian arms ship was attacked the ship's 20-man crew would be killed.

The French Navy intercepted the pirates in two small boats about 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the nearest coast, finding anti-tank missiles, other weapons and ship boarding gear on the boats.

The nine were handed over to Somali officials, and French officials received assurances that the prisoners would be treated according to international conventions.

Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia this year have surged 75 percent, the International Maritime Bureau said Thursday, calling for serious international action against the brigands who "operate with impunity."

It says the waters off Somalia, including the Gulf of Aden, are the world's most dangerous, accounting for 63 — or nearly a third — of the 199 reported pirate attacks worldwide so far this year.

Pirate Sugule Ali, a spokesman for those holding a Ukrainian arms ship, vowed again to fight back if attacked, regardless of the impending arrival of a flotilla of NATO warships.

"Either we get the money or hold onto the ship. And if attacked, we will fight back to the bitter end," Ali said via satellite telephone Thursday.

"The important thing, though, is if we die they will die too," he added, referring to the MV Faina's 20-man crew.

The Faina was heading for a Kenyan port with a cargo of 33 battle tanks and heavy weapons when armed pirates seized it Sept. 25 off coast of Somalia. The ship is now anchored off Somalia's coast near the central town of Hobyo.

U.S. warships have surrounded the Faina for weeks, making sure its heavy weapons don't fall into the hands of any insurgent groups linked to al-Qaida.

Ali said food and water are running low on the Ukrainian arms ship but pirates were sharing what they had with the crew.

"We Somalis don't eat in front of a hungry person," he said. "We will share our food with them."

He also mocked comments by Tomex Team, the firm operating the MV Faina cargo ship, which said it has accumulated only $1 million toward the $20 million ransom the pirates initially demanded.

"That is worthless," he said. "It would only pay for several nights' stay in a hotel!"

He declined to say whether the pirates had lowered their ransom request.

The International Maritime Bureau urged navies around the world to target the pirate's main supply ships before they succeed in hijacking cargo vessels.

"This is vital to protect this major world seaway," bureau director Pottengal Mukundan said.

Somalia, a lawless Horn of Africa nation, has had no central government since clan-based warlords overthrew a socialist dictator in 1991.