Mons, Belgium - NATO is to divert seven warships, bound on the alliance's first-ever visit to Asia, to the coast of Somalia to fight piracy later this month, alliance ambassadors decided Friday.

The fleet of six frigates and a tanker, which had long been scheduled to visit Pakistan, Singapore and Australia, will first spend a month fighting piracy off the Horn of Africa, NATO said in a press release issued at the alliance's military headquarters.

After their anti-piracy patrol, the seven ships in the flotilla - one Portuguese, one Canadian, one Dutch, one Spanish, one American and two German - are set to travel to Karachi, Singapore and Perth on a high-profile diplomatic mission.

They will then spend a further fortnight fighting piracy off Somalia when they return from the East some in the early summer, NATO officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The diplomatic visit "demonstrates the high value that NATO places on its relationship with other partners across the globe," the NATO press release said. NATO insiders describe the unprecedented tour as "friendly gunboat diplomacy."

NATO is deeply embroiled in Afghanistan, and is keen to show regional players, especially Pakistan, that it values them. Australia has contributed 1,090 soldiers to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Singapore has sent 20.

It is the second time that NATO has sent ships to fight the growing threat of piracy on one of the main shipping lanes between Europe and Asia.

In October, the alliance sent four warships to patrol Somali waters after a spate of high-profile pirate attacks. That mission handed over to a European Union flotilla in December.

The two German vessels, one of which is a fuelling ship, will fly the NATO flag for most of the tour. However, for legal reasons they will fly the EU's flag and be attached to its Operation Atalanta while they are fighting piracy. (dpa)