French diplomat Thomas Viot has been mauled by a shark while kite surfing off Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.

Economist Mr Viot, who has been working for the European Union in Papua New Guinea for the past two-and-a-half years, was airlifted to Australia to receive medical treatment after the incident. 

The 30-year-old said he believes his attacker, which struck at a reef on Sunday afternoon, was a 6.5-foot tiger shark. 

'I managed to ride back with my kite-surf, it was bleeding very badly and I don't know how but I managed to ride back,' he told AFP reporters of his leg wound.

'I lost a lot of blood and the leg needs to have surgery,' he added from hospital in Port Moresby before being moved to Brisbane.

Mr Viot, who vowed to return to kite surfing once he has recovered, also revealed: 'It's not my first surfing accident... I got attacked by a stingray at the beginning of the year, and I always go back.'

Papua New Guinea has witnessed 49 shark attacks since 1925, with 25 fatalities. 

Tiger sharks are among the most dangerous of the species, but attacks are relatively rare.