Armed guards on a commodity-carrying ship in the Gulf of Aden fired at pirates, preventing them from boarding the vessel, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks crime at sea.

The guards fired eight warning flares and followed up with six warning shots after the pirates continued trying to get onto the vessel, the London-based IMB said in a notice on its website today. The pirates then abandoned the attack, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alaric Nightingale in London at anightingal1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net