Brussels  - NATO governments have approved the deployment of a new counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia consisting of seven vessels, alliance officials said Wednesday.

"NATO ambassadors have now approved the operational plan for the deployment of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 to conduct counter- piracy operations off the coast of Somalia," said NATO spokesman James Appathurai.

Operation "Allied Protectors" will escort United Nations ships travelling through the Gulf of Aden between the end of March and June, officials said. This timeframe includes one month of port visits, during which counter-piracy operations will not be taking place.

Two of the vessels that form part of NATO's Standing Maritime Group 1 are German, with the rest being supplied by Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, the United States and Portugal, which will also be commanding the operations.

NATO's previous counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia began in late October and ended in December, when it passed the baton to the European Union's "Atalanta" mission. (dpa)