COLOMBO, Sept 16 (AFP) - Tamil Tiger rebels launched a flotilla of boats to attack a ferry carrying 1,200 troops in northern Sri Lanka Sunday, hours after an explosive-laden boat tried to ram a navy gunboat in a suicide mission, the defence ministry said. 
	
	
 A cluster of at least 20 boats of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mounted the pre-dawn attack on the MV Pride of South off the island's Point Pedro coast, ministry spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said. 
	
	
 He said navy gunboats and helicopter gunships repulsed the initial attack and first reports indicated at least two rebel craft had been blown out of the water. There were no immediate reports of casualties. 
	
	
 Fighting continued two hours after the initial exchange of fire in high seas and the navy had called in more gun ships to beat back the guerrillas, Karunaratne said. 
	
	
 "The ship had been about 26 miles (42 kilometres) away from Point Pedro when the attack started," Karunaratne said. "There are no casualties among the security forces at the moment." 
	
	
 He said the ship was a regular ferry transporting troops from the northeastern port of Trincomalee to the northern peninsula of Jaffna. There were 1,200 soldiers aboard the ferry. 
	
	
 Hours before the ferry incident, a navy fast attack craft encountered an explosive-laden boat which blew up in an apparent Tamil Tiger suicide mission, Karunaratne said. 
	
	
 The navy craft had approached the small boat thinking it was in distress as an elderly man, a teenager and another person onboard had put up a white flag. 
	
	
 As it neared the boat, it came under attack. When the navy vessel retaliated, the fishing boat exploded. 
	
	
 "All three people onboard that boat evaporated, indicating that it was packed with explosives to ram against the navy fast attack craft," Karunaratne said. 
	
	
 The navy vessel escaped serious damage or casualties. 
	
	
 Tiger guerrillas, leading a campaign for an independent homeland in the island's northeast, have carried out several attacks against navy and merchant ships, including using boats carrying suicide bombers on more than a dozen naval craft. 
	
	
 The LTTE staged a kamikaze-style assault on a merchant vessel in June last year. 
	
	
 An explosives-laden boat rammed into the bulk cargo carrier, MV Mercs Uhana, as it approached the Jaffna peninsula carrying food and other essentials to the embattled region. 
	
	
 Twenty-one crewmen were rescued, but another seven went missing after the attack. 
	
	
 In September 1999, the Sri Lankan navy fought Tiger rebel boats off the island's northeastern coast to prevent the guerrillas from seizing a Chinese merchant vessel. 
	
	
 A Tiger flotilla had been moving towards the 14,000-tonne MV Yugi when it was confronted by navy gun boats, the defence ministry said at the time, adding that the 32 crew members had not been hurt. 
	
	
 The Tigers in August 1997 seized the 6,000-tonne MV Princess Kash off Mullaitivu, on the northeastern coast, while the vessel was taking supplies to private traders in the Jaffna peninsula. 
	
	
 Government forces as well as civilians depend on a vital sea route to Jaffna to provide them with supplies since the land route is held by the Tiger rebels. 
	
	
 Merchant vessels have been warned to operate several miles off the coast to prevent being detected by rebels along the northeastern seaboard. The navy takes the same route when transporting weapons and troops to Jaffna.