The Saudi owners of the Sirius Star are in negotiations with Somali pirates who have demanded a ransom for the super-tanker laden with 100 million dollars of oil they hijacked at the weekend.

As international anger continued to mount Wednesday over a situation described by the International Maritime Bureau as `out of control`, an Indian naval vessel sank a Somali pirate ship.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned on Wednesday a surge of piracy off Somalia`s coast and backed international efforts to combat it.

Ban `expresses his concern` at the pirates` attacks in recent days and `reiterates his condemnation of all acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea wherever they occur,` said the UN chief`s spokesperson in a statement.

An Indian warship destroyed a pirate `mother vessel` in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet.

US President George W. Bush has kept up to date on the fate of a Saudi super-tanker hijacked by pirates off the east African coast and views the crew`s safety as critical, the White House said Wednesday.

The European Union`s anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia -- its first-ever naval mission -- will begin on December 8, France`s defence minister said Wednesday.

Five or six warships will begin patrolling the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden from that date, said Herve Morin, whose country holds the EU`s rotating presidency.

The Saudi owners of the super-tanker Sirius Star were in negotiations Wednesday with the pirates who seized the vessel off the east African coast at the weekend, the Saudi foreign minister said in Rome.

An Indian warship destroyed a pirate `mother vessel` in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet.

The capture of the Saudi oil supertanker Sirius Star last weekend marks a new stage in piracy off Somalia`s coast, where acts of banditry have reached record levels since the start of the year.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), 94 ships have been attacked in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden this year.

A Kenyan court on Wednesday charged eight Somalis seized during a British naval operation off the coast of the lawless Horn of Africa country last week for hijacking a shipping vessel.

The suspects, wearing blue uniforms, pleaded not guilty to the charge of piracy before Mombasa chief magistrate Catherine Mwangi.

Visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband denounced on Wednesday the `scourge` of piracy in the Gulf of Aden where ships have increasingly been falling victim to bandits.

Visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband denounced on Wednesday the `scourge` of piracy in the Gulf of Aden where ships have increasingly been falling victim to bandits.

A hardline Islamist alliance controlling Somalia`s main southern port of Kismayo on Wednesday promised tough measures to protect ships and traders from marauding pirates.

`We will set up marine forces and will protect all ships and vessels from the pirates off the coastal areas we control,` Sheikh Hasan Yaqub, spokesman for the Islamist administration in Kismayo told AFP.

A hardline Islamist alliance controlling Somalia`s main southern port of Kismayo on Wednesday promised tough measures to protect ships and traders from marauding pirates.

`We will set up marine forces and will protect all ships and vessels from the pirates off the coastal areas we control,` Sheikh Hasan Yaqub, spokesman for the Islamist administration in Kismayo told AFP.

Somali pirates on Wednesday released a Hong Kong-flagged ship and its 25 crew seized two months ago, a Kenyan maritime official said.

The MV Great Creation, with 24 Chinese and one Sri Lankan crew, was seized on September 18.

Somali pirates on Wednesday released a Hong Kong-flagged ship and its 25 crew seized two months ago, a Kenyan maritime official said.

The MV Great Creation, with 24 Chinese and one Sri Lankan crew, was seized on September 18.

Iran has not made any contact with the hijackers of a Hong Kong-registered cargo ship it chartered and which has now been hijacked off the coast of Yemen, the state IRNA new agency said Tuesday.

`So far no contact has been made with the ship and the hijackers,` Majid Ensan Najib, a senior official at the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, told IRNA.

Iran has not made any contact with the hijackers of a Hong Kong-registered cargo ship it chartered and which has now been hijacked off the coast of Yemen, the state IRNA new agency said Tuesday.

`So far no contact has been made with the ship and the hijackers,` Majid Ensan Najib, a senior official at the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, told IRNA.

A total of 127 Filipino seamen are being held hostage aboard seven vessels hijacked by pirates off the Somalia coast this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.

The figure includes 19 Filipinos who were among the 25-member crew of the Saudi super-tanker Sirius Star seized by pirates Saturday, department officials said.

A total of 127 Filipino seamen are being held hostage aboard seven vessels hijacked by pirates off the Somalia coast this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.

The figure includes 19 Filipinos who were among the 25-member crew of the Saudi super-tanker Sirius Star seized by pirates Saturday, department officials said.

An Indian warship has destroyed a pirate `mother vessel` after a battle off the coast of Somalia, officials said Wednesday.

Navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said a stealth frigate, the INS Tabar, open fire on the ship in the Gulf of Aden late Tuesday after coming under attack from gunmen on board the vessel.

An Indian warship has destroyed a pirate `mother vessel` after a battle off the coast of Somalia, officials said Wednesday.

Navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said a stealth frigate, the INS Tabar, open fire on the ship in the Gulf of Aden late Tuesday after coming under attack from gunmen on board the vessel.

An Indian warship has attacked a pirate boat off the Somali coast, a naval spokesman told AFP Wednesday, resulting in explosions on what he described as a pirate `mother vessel.`

Spokesman Nirad Sinha said Indian stealth frigate INS Tabar, deployed in the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy mission, attacked the ship late Tuesday after coming under fire from gunmen on board the vessel.

An Indian warship has attacked a pirate boat off the Somali coast, a naval spokesman told AFP Wednesday, resulting in explosions on what he described as a pirate `mother vessel.`

Spokesman Nirad Sinha said Indian stealth frigate INS Tabar, deployed in the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy mission, attacked the ship late Tuesday after coming under fire from gunmen on board the vessel.

BRUSSELS, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - The European Commission has dropped the idea of a European coast guard and a single EU ship registry in an action plan for maritime policy in the 27-nation bloc presented on Wednesday.

In consultations with member states and other interested parties on maritime policy, the idea of forming a European coast guard and a single ship registry met with a cold reception.

ZURICH, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - Swiss banking giant UBS said Monday it had taken a 5.47 percent stake in South Korean shipping group STX Pan Ocean.

A UBS spokesman described the transaction as 'non-strategic.'

STX Pan Ocean operates a fleet of 200 vessels and had net earnings last year of 129 million dollars (91 million euros).

THE HAGUE, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - A collision between a police boat and a hovercraft waterbus in Amsterdam Monday morning left five injured, three of them seriously, the Dutch agency ANP reported.

The hovercraft was carrying 34 passengers when the accident happened on the Noordzeekanaal which links the capital to the sea.

The three most seriously injured were on the hovercraft, run by the public transport company Connexxion. The hovercraft was making a regular commuter run between Amsterdam and Velsen, a town situated on the Nort Sea end of the canal.

SEOUL, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering said Friday it would build a shipbuilding plant in North Korea as part of joint economic projects agreed at this week's inter-Korean summit.

At their summit, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il decided to build shipbuilding complexes in the North's western port of Nampo and Anbyon on the east coast.

ATHENS, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - More than 300 sailors from a Greek cruise ship have been stranded for more than two weeks in Rhodes after their vessel was detained, the local municipality said on Wednesday.

The 340 sailors, mostly from Pakistan, Romania and the Philippines, have been on the vessel since September 18, when it developed a 10-degree list shortly after docking at the harbour.

An inspection by the Rhodes port authority showed that the waste tanks had overflowed internally and tipped the ship to its side.

ATHENS, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - More than 300 sailors from a Greek cruise ship have been stranded for weeks in Rhodes after the vessel was detained for spilling waste in the harbour, the local municipality said on Wednesday.

'A crew delegation came to the town hall and asked for food and water,' municipal press officer Thanassis Marasiotis told AFP.

'We intend to provide them with supplies for as long as it takes, but they are unpaid and nobody from the company has turned up to assume responsibility.'

MIAMI, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - The US Coast Guard on Thursday suspended its search for crew of a charter fishing boat missing in a high-seas mystery that involves claims of piracy and murder and the arrest of two men.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the crew of the Joe Cool,' said Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Chris O'Neil, in reference to the four men missing at sea while their two customers, found drifting in a life raft, are behind bars in Miami.

MIAMI, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - A mystery in the high seas deepened Wednesday amid claims hijackers pirated a fishing charter vessel whose crew of four is missing, but whose two customers were found on a life raft and arrested.

One of the two men rescued at sea and detained on arrival in Miami claimed unknown attackers hijacked the 'Joe Cool' during its voyage to the Bahamas and killed the crew, according to an FBI affidavit.

MIAMI, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - FBI agents on Tuesday questioned a fugitive and another man found on a life raft about the fate of the four crew members of a boat they chartered and that was found drifting at sea, unmanned.

The two men were taken into custody as the US Coast Guard ship that rescued them docked in Miami.

Authorities also seized the ghost ship, which was towed to shore.

'It's a potential crime on the high seas,' FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela told AFP.

CHENNAI, India, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - A state leader in India has dismissed a deity worshipped by millions as a 'big lie', deepening a highly sensitive row over plans to dredge a shipping lane through an area sacred to Hindus.

The chief minister of India's southern Tamil Nadu state said the government was justified in making a half-billion dollar canal that would allow ships to save more than 30 hours by skirting around the southern tip of India.

The comments have already sparked protests and two deaths in the south of the country, police said.

VIENNA, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Shipping companies and airlines that refuse to carry any sort of radioactive material are putting lives at stake, a top official from the UN's atomic watchdog said Wednesday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is concerned about the growing trend and has set up a special steering committee to draw up an action plan to combat it, committee chairman Jack Edlow told reporters.

'People's lives are being affected by these 'denials of shipments',' he said on the sidelines of the UN watchdog's general conference in Vienna.

NEW DELHI, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - The Indian government said Monday it will go ahead with a controversial plan to build a sea lane in the Bay of Bengal despite a storm of protest from Hindus who say it will destroy a sacred site.

India's Premier Manmohan Singh had put a hold on the half-billion-dollar project to dredge the sandy shoals, which Hindus believe were created by the god Ram, following accusations of blasphemy.

NEW DELHI, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - India's ruling Congress party on Monday ordered cabinet ministers not to target each other over a plan to build a sea lane through sandy shoals that millions of Hindus worship as a sacred site.

The infighting erupted last week after the culture ministry questioned the existence of the Hindu god Ram in a court submission supporting a plan to dredge the shoals to create a sea lane between India and Sri Lanka Lanka.