HANOI - Suspected Malaysian pirates attacked a Vietnamese fishing boat and killed its captain in the South China Sea near Malaysia, the coast guard said Monday.

Three pirates in a boat approached the fishing vessel last Wednesday and gestured for it to stop.

But the Vietnamese vessel tried to outrun the pirates, who opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon, killing its 33-year-old skipper, Le Van Tam. Eight other Vietnamese on board were not injured.

The pirates boarded the boat and made off with the fishermen's catch and fishing equipment, said a coast guard official from the central province of Quang Ngai.

"The eight fishermen think the pirates were Malaysian but they are not sure," he said.

The fishermen, who were all from Quang Ngai, only reached shore at Khanh Hoa province on Saturday. - AFP