Somali sources close to the pirates said two of the attackers were wounded in an exchange of fire during an attempted rescue operation but Giessman said all crew members were safe. "We have since observed with our satellite system that the ship had left the convoy and was heading to the Somali coast," he said.

Sources in Somalia said the ship was being taken towards the pirate lair of Eyl, in the northern semi-autonomous state of Puntland. The German navy's anti-piracy unit in Potsdam said the Indian frigate INS Beas replied to a distress call overnight and wanted to send special forces on board but the captain of the German tanker refused. The nature of the MV Longchamp's escort was not immediately clear.

Andrew Mwangura, who runs the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program, said the ship was flagged in the Bahamas. The head of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur Noel Choong also confirmed the attack.

"Pirates armed with guns fired on the ship and managed to board and hijack her," he said. Choong said the last attack by Somali pirates was on January 14 and since then there had been a lull due to bad weather conditions, with high wind speeds of up to 30 knots which made it difficult for pirates to operate. "In the last few days the weather has improved and wind speed has dropped to 15 knots and below, and it appears pirates are beginning to look out for ships to attack," Choong said.

He said that if the weather continues to improve there could be more attacks in coming days, and urged ships passing through the treacherous region to be vigilant and maintain a 24-hour watch. So far in 2009 the IMB said there have been 15 pirate attacks including three successful hijackings. Pirates are currently holding 10 vessels including the German gas tanker.

The joint strategy calls for the establishment of three information centres in Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Sanaa an a regional training centre in the Red Sea state of Djibouti. "We now have an efficient mechanism to fight against piracy. The text of the code has been accepted by consensus. IMO is ready to help the members' state to implement this agreement," said Koije Sekimizu of the International Maritime Organisation which organised the Djibouti meeting. The nine signatories are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, the Maldives, the Seychelles, Somalia, Yemen and Tanzania.

AFP