Somali pirates, who are now holding a record 13 ships hostage, are attacking further out to sea and on two fronts to evade international security.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre, said the change in tactics increased the problems facing the multinational task force patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

"As we advise the ships to sail further from the shore, the pirates are also doing the same. Now pirates are attacking on two fronts, it will be more difficult for coalition forces to patrol two areas effectively," he told AFP.

Choong said the heavily armed attackers were now operating simultaneously in the Gulf of Aden and on the eastern coast of Somalia and extending their range by operating from larger vessels.

"Pirates are now venturing 200 nautical miles or more from shore to attack and hijack ships. They are using a mother ship which could be a big boat like an ocean-going trawler, from where they launch smaller boats to attack ships."

13 ships in pirate hands

Since January, Somali pirates have attacked 59 ships, with more than 300 crew held hostage, he said.

Among them are 39 Malaysians who were forcibly taken from two tankers last month.

On Aug 19, pirates seized palm oil tanker Bunga Melati Dua in the gulf between Somalia and Yemen, where a Filipino sailor was killed.

Ten days later, another tanker, Bunga Melati Lima, was hijacked. The pirates have reportedly demanded a RM10 million ransom for the two ships and their crew.

Yesterday, a Greek-owned ship with 19 sailors on board, most of them Filipinos, was seized, becoming the 13th ship in pirate hands.

A Malta-flagged Iranian oil tanker - a massive vessel the size of a football field - had a narrow escape at the weekend after being pursued by pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades, Choong said.

"The master increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres. The ship managed to escape after a 30-minute chase," he said of the fully-loaded vessel which was en route to Europe.