PARIS: 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 on 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 EU's operation dubbed EUNAVOR will include contributions from several countries including France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Spain, with Portugal, Sweden and non-EU nation Norway also likely to take part.

EU boats will "escort merchant ships .. and ships from the World Food Programme and carry out surveillance operations with navy patrol planes," Morin told reporters.

WFP ships, which bring up to 35,000 tonnes of food aid every month to poverty-stricken Somalia, have been repeatedly attacked by pirates.

Somalia's well-organised pirates prey on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which some 30 percent of the world's oil is transported.

The pirates use high-powered speedboats and are heavily armed, sometimes holding ships for weeks until they are released for large ransoms paid by governments or owners.

A maritime watchdog said 63 of the 199 piracy incidents recorded worldwide in the first nine months of this year occurred in the waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

The Somali figure is almost double that of the same period last year. - AFP/de