Somali authorities said today they had sent troops to a Dutch-owned ship seized by pirates and were prepared to use force if necessary to release the vessel.
Gunmen seized the MV Amiya Scanand its nine Russian and Filipino crew as it passed through the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, the latest in a string of pirate attacks off the coast of the anarchic country.
"We will use force to release the ship if necessary. We have sent troops on two ships towards Ras Bina, 470 miles east of Bosasso, where the Dutch ship is being held," Adde Muse, president of the Puntland, a relatively stable Somali region, said.
"We ask the international community and in particular the country of the ship's origin not to pay ransom to the pirates," he said.
Piracy is rampant off Somalia's coast, which fell into anarchy after the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre in 1991.
Mr Muse said his government would also position ground troops at the coast to block reinforcements from reaching the pirates.
"We placed troops at the coast near Ras Bina from where the pirates might get support from their fellows on the ground or where they might get the chance to escape," he said. "We ask the world to help our military forces."
Meanwhile, a maritime official at Kenya's coast said he had received reports that another ship, MV Arena, had been taken by pirates off the Somalia coast.