Nairobi/Addis Ababa - Political infighting in Somalia that has prevented the government from functioning is feeding the recent explosion in piracy, the chairman of the African Union has said.

Piracy off the Horn of Africa nation has surged in recent months, peaking with the weekend seizure of a Saudi supertanker carrying crude oil worth 100 million dollars.

Jean Ping linked the piracy surge to a rift within the leadership of Somalia's transitional federal government and called for UN peacekeepers to be deployed in the nation as soon as possible.

"The chairperson expresses deep concern at the recent increasing acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia," the AU said in a statement late Wednesday evening.

New York  - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that Somali pirates have received 30 million dollars in ransom this year alone.

There has been a surge in piracy in 2008 - the latest being the hijacking of a Saudi supertanker, carrying about 100 million dollars worth of crude oil, on Saturday.

Ban called for a "pragmatic and effective" way to end piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia as it has weakened the transitional government and authorities in the autonomous Puntland areas in north Somalia.

Citing a report on the security situation in Somalia, Ban said that since January 2008, a total of 65 merchant ships with about 200 crew members each, have been hijacked off the Somali coast.

London - The families of the two Britons among the 25-member crew of the Sirius Star tanker said Wednesday they hoped the two men would be "home safely very soon."

The two men were named as chief engineer Peter French and James Grady, Second Officer on the vessel captured by pirates off the East African coast.

Earlier Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for the immediate release of the crew.

Riyadh/Nairobi - The owners of a Saudi Arabian oil tanker captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia are negotiating a possible ransom, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday, according to the Duabai-based al-Arabiya channel.

The Sirius Star, a supertanker owned by the Saudi Arabian firm Vela International that was carrying some 100 million-dollars-worth of crude oil was hijacked Saturday 830 kilometres south-east of the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

New Delhi - The Indian Navy foiled an attack by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and destroyed their ship, the Indian government said Wednesday.

The Indian Navy's INS Tabar stealth frigate, which has been deployed in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy surveillance and patrol operations, was attacked by pirates late Tuesday, a government statement said.

The Tabar spotted a pirate vessel 285 nautical miles, or 528 kilometres, south-west of Salalah, Oman, and asked the vessel to stop for investigations, it said.

Kuala Lumpur - Pirates have hijacked a Thai fishing boat with 16 crew members off the coast of Somalia, bringing the number of pirate attacks in the troubled region to 95 this year, a maritime watchdog said Wednesday.

The vessel, which was seized Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden, had made a distress call late Monday as it was being chased by pirates in two speedboats, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

However, the phone line got cut.

The Thai boat was heading for the Middle East, said Choong. He said the fate of the crew members remains unknown.

Choong said piracy activities continued to increase in the area due to a lack of security.