Spanish ship heads to Somalia to find seized boat

(adds quote from deputy PM, background)

MADRID, April 21 (Reuters) - Spain has sent a ship to waters off Somalia, where pirates seized a Spanish tuna fishing boat with 26 people on board on Sunday, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that the crew seemed to be unhurt.

On Monday national radio quoted the captain of the boat as saying everybody on board was well. A man who said he was one of the captors said in broken English that the pirates were Somalis and wanted money.

Kidnapping and piracy are lucrative businesses in lawless Somalia and most Somalis treat their captives well in anticipation of a good ransom.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry said 13 of the people on board the tuna fishing boat, called Playa de Bakio, were Spanish, and added it was in touch with governments with military presence in the area to help find the vessel.

"Our first objective is to create a surveillance and information unit to be headed by the Chief of Staff, so we are working to follow the situation minute by minute, and we trust it will be resolved quickly and happily," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told reporters.

Media reported on Sunday that the boat was attacked with grenade launchers about 250 miles from the coast and boarded by armed men. They said the boat was heading towards the Somali coast.

Six Somali pirates who seized a French luxury yacht and held its crew hostage for a week were arrested by French troops in the Somali desert last week after they handed over their 30 hostages and fled with their ransom. They were flown to France for questioning.

A Somali regional maritime group, the Seafarers' Assistance Programme, says 2,454 vessels from 26 flags are authorised to fish for tuna in the Indian Ocean under trade rules, but the Spanish vessel did not appear on the list. (Reporting by Teresa Larraz; Editing by Richard Meares)