Bandits rob Aussies on Amazon tourist boat

Bandits have attacked an Amazon tourist boat and robbed more than two dozen tourists from Australia, New Zealand and the US, Peruvian authorities say.

Oscar Garrido-Lecca, the port captain in the river city of Iquitos, says police are hunting through the area to find the robbers.

He says the attackers used a small craft to reach the Amazon Discovery tour cruise, boarded it and then robbed passengers and crew of goods worth about $US20,000 ($A26,200) early on Thursday.

The tourists included six Australians, two from New Zealand and 21 Americans. There were also 25 Peruvians working aboard.