20091211

The European Union naval force hunting Somali pirates needs to extend its patrol area to reflect the widening scale of their attacks, the admiral in charge said Friday.

Britain's Rear Admiral Peter Hudson told the BBC that attacks in the Indian Ocean were now taking place even further off the Somali coast, up to 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) away and closer to India than Africa.

"I have to keep the balance between area where my aircraft can go, what advice we give to ships, where the pirates operate," Hudson said.

"It's a constant little equation that we're looking at.

"And because we've seen some of these attacks now right nearer to India than Africa, we just have to review where our operating area is and we'll make recommendations to Brussels and see what they think."

The world's naval powers last year deployed warships in the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb attacks by ransom-hunting pirates that were seen as a threat to one of the globe's most crucial maritime trade routes.

Pirates have since shifted their focus to the wider Indian Ocean, a huge area much more difficult to patrol, and have ventured as far as the Seychelles and beyond.

AFP Global Edition