Malaysia will step up anti-piracy patrols in the attack-prone Strait of Malacca by adding up to 15 new high-speed police boats and conducting joint maritime exercises with Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, a senior official said today.

"We will obtain 10 to 15 small strike craft with speeds of up to 45 knots this year to ensure the security of Malaysian waters including the Malacca Strait," Abdul Rahman Ahmad, marine police commander, told AFP .

The Malaysian-made vessels each cost RM500,000 (US$135,135) and are capable of carrying four marine police, he said.

The maritime force already had four of the craft deployed from the southern tip of the strait in Johor state and at Port Klang, west of Kuala Lumpur, he said, adding they had proved effective in cutting piracy attacks.

Worldwide high-seas attacks fell last year thanks to enhanced awareness and patrolling, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

The number of attacks in the Strait of Malacca fell in 2005 to 12, from 38 the year before, according to the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre.

276 attacks last year

Attacks in Indonesian waters, however, accounted for 30 percent of the global total in 2005, despite dropping to 79 from 94 the year earlier.

The IMB put total attacks for 2005 at 276, compared with 329 in 2004.

Abdul Rahman said his agency would hold a joint maritime exercise with Thailand and Indonesia in the next three months, and discussions were underway for a similar exercise with Singapore.

The 804km-long strait, one of the world's busiest sea routes, links Asia with the Middle East and Europe.

Some 50,000 vessels and about 40 percent of the world's trade, including 80 percent of the oil and gas destined for Japan and South Korea, pass through the narrow waterway each year.