DUBAI - Gulf and other Arab countries are to establish a joint naval force to combat escalating piracy in the region, Saudi daily Arab News reported on Tuesday, citing the commander of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.
Adm. Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Muhammad said naval chiefs of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Arab countries bordering the Red Sea agreed on Monday to set up a team to lay down the procedures and mechanism for the formation of a joint naval force, the newspaper reported.
"All countries bordering the Red Sea understand that safety in their waters is their responsibility," Prince Fahd was quoted as saying.
"Our task is to keep the maritime routes in the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden safe as they are the major international routes vital for international trade."
The meeting was attended by the six GCC member states, Jordan, Djibouti, Sudan, Egypt and Yemen, Arab News reported.
The number of pirate attacks across the globe more than doubled in the first half of 2009 because of rampant high-seas raids by Somali pirates, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
The IMB said incidents of piracy rose to 240 from 114 worldwide in the six months to June, with the rise "due almost entirely to increased Somali pirate activity off the Gulf of Aden and east coast of Somalia".
The rise in Somali piracy has forced many countries to increase their naval presence in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route for much of the world's oil.
Somali piracy hit international headlines late last year when pirates hijacked a Saudi supertanker with a $100 million oil cargo in the world's biggest ship hijacking. The ship was later freed after its owners paid ransom demands.