BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) — Pirates near Somalia chased and shot at a US cruise liner with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel, a maritime official said.

The liner, carrying 656 international passengers and 399 crew members, was sailing Sunday in the Gulf of Aden when it encountered six pirates in two speedboats, said Noel Choong who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur.

The pirates fired at the passenger liner but the larger boat was faster than the pirates' vessels, Choong said.

"It is very fortunate that the liner managed to escape," he said, urging all ships to remain vigilant in the area.

The ship's owner, Oceania Cruises Inc., identified the ship as the M/S Nautica.

In a statement on its website, the company said pirates fired eight rifle shots at the liner as it sailed along a maritime corridor patrolled by an international naval coalition, but that the ship's captain increased speed and managed to outrun the skiffs.

All passengers and crew are safe and there was no damage to the vessel, it said.

According to the website, the Nautica was on a 32-day cruise from Rome to Singapore, with stops at ports in Italy, Egypt, Oman, Dubai, India, Malaysia and Thailand. Based on that schedule, the liner was headed from Egypt to Oman when it was attacked.

And Somali pirates have agreed to release a Yemeni cargo ship without ransom after successful negotiations between the hijackers, local elders and a Yemeni official, a local official said on Monday.

"No ransom was paid, but after negotiations, the pirates will get off the ship soon. The Yemeni ship will be released in the coming hours," Ali Abdi Aware, state minister of the northern province of Puntland, told Reuters.

The MV Amani was seized on November 25.

This year's surge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has seen insurance costs rise, brought millions in ransoms, and sent navies rushing to the area.

But attacks continue despite the presence of more than a dozen foreign warships. Pirates are holding more than a dozen ships, with nearly 300 crew members hostage.

In Kiev, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vasyl Kyrylych said talks to release a Ukrainian ship, the MV Faina, being held with 33 tanks on board, were nearing conclusion.

"What is important for us is that the talks are now in their final phase and what is particularly important is that the atmosphere remains satisfactory and that the state of health of the sailors remains satisfactory," he said.

"We expect the liberation of the hostages very soon," the spokesman added, without giving any more details.

The pirates had been demanding $8 million as ransom.

Somalia's sea-gangs have taken advantage of chaos on the mainland to launch attacks offshore in some of the world's busiest shipping lanes connecting Asia and Europe.

A two-year Islamist-led insurgency against the government and its Ethiopian military allies has created a humanitarian crisis that aid workers say is one of the worst in the world.

Regional analysts say the long-term solution to piracy in Somalia is through a functioning government with law enforcement agencies.

But with Somalia's 14th attempt to create central government in 18 years going badly, some are sceptical.

"To expect a central government to emerge in Somalia any time soon is pie in the sky," said a report by international think-tank the Asia Pacific Foundation.