Anti-pirate attack guidelines being ignored, UN says

Pirates have started operating further from the Somali coast

The majority of ships being hijacked off the coast of Somalia are ignoring safety advice, UN piracy experts say.

Carl Salicath, chairman of the UN group on piracy, told the BBC up to 25% of vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden are ignoring the UN's guidelines.

"Commercial ships following these practices are, with a very few exceptions, not hijacked," he said.

"They are designed, even if pirates become technically more sophisticated... to prevent hijacking."

The waters around Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world, despite patrols from the naval forces of the US, Nato and the European Union.

Attacks up

Mr Salicath said piracy experts meeting at the UN headquarters on Thursday were told ships were ignoring some simple advice.

He told the BBC's Network Africa programme this included:

• Sailing as fast as possible

• Using barbed wire where pirates could possibly board

• Staying in contact with the international maritime forces

• Sailing at recommended times

The piracy experts also heard that piracy has continued to expand further out to sea, at times more than 1,000 nautical miles from Somalia's coast.

Captain Paul Chivers, chief of staff of the EU naval forces, said "the number of attacks has gone up considerably in the Somali basin, the number of successful attacks has gone down".

"It would be dangerous to assume we have overcome the threat," AP news agency quotes him as saying.

War-torn Somalia has had no functioning government since 1991, allowing pirates to operate along the lawless coast, almost with impunity.

Mr Salicath said the contact group had agreed to set up a trust fund to help establish a Somali coast guard and to support the judiciary in countries where captured pirates are being prosecuted.