Paris - A French couple and their 3-year-old son were among those kidnapped by Somali pirates over the weekend, French television reported Monday.

The family's sailboat Tanit carrying the family and another couple was seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean, where they had been vacationing aboard the boat and were headed toward the island of Zanzibar despite repeated warning about the dangers of piracy.

The French military had attempted to warn them of pirates, approaching the boat with a helicopter, the family wrote on their blog detailing their adventures.

Since March 16, the family had been sailing without lights as a precaution. "We're sailing toward al-Mukalla and we are in the middle of the danger zone for pirates ... But there is nothing to report," they wrote.

The couple had also been warned by another couple who had been kidnapped by pirates in the past, but were undeterred. The wife, Chloe, wrote "The pirates can't destroy our dream."

Pirates on Monday seized a British-owned cargo ship and a Taiwanese vessel, adding to the French yacht, a Yemeni tugboat and a German container ship hijacked over the weekend, Kenya-based piracy monitor Ecoterra said. (dpa)