ABU DHABI, - Eleven littoral states of the Persian Gulf and Red Sea have agreed to create an all-Arab naval task force to prevent the spread of sea piracy in the region, a Yemeni newspaper said on Tuesday.

Delegates to a regional security conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, issued a joint statement saying the proposed task force was necessary to counter "the danger posed to their shipping, particularly vital oil and gas exports which pass via the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean."

According to the Al Ayum newspaper, the task force would comprise warships from Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The Saudi navy will coordinate joint efforts for a period of one year, the paper said.

Around 35 warships from the navies of 16 countries are currently deployed off Somalia's coast to counter frequent pirate attacks on vital commercial shipping lanes. According to the United Nations, Somali pirates carried out at least 120 attacks on ships in 2008 alone.

According to the UN, Somali pirates collected $150 million in ransom payments from ship owners last year, while overall losses from piracy were estimated at $13-16 billion, including the soaring cost of insurance and protection for vessels, as well as sending ships on longer routes to avoid high-risk areas.