Brussels- The European Union is considering the launch of a naval operation in Somalia to protect European vessels from pirate attacks in the region, the bloc's foreign ministers said Monday.

EU ministers meeting in Brussels said they had approved "a strategic military option for a possible European Union naval operation."

The move comes just days after a French tuna fishing boat was attacked by Somali pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

The vessel, crewed by mostly French and Spanish fishermen, managed to escape and fled to the Seychelles, the ship's captain said.

In Brussels, EU foreign ministers reaffirmed their "serious concern at the acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast" and decided to establish a military coordination unit in Brussels.

The EU NAVCO unit is to be tasked with "supporting the surveillance and protection activities carried out by some (EU) member states off the Somali coast," ministers said.

Details of the operation are as yet undecided.

Piracy along the African coast has been a continual problem for Somalia, which has been suffering chaos and clan-based civil war since dictator Mohamed Siad Barres was toppled in 1991. (dpa)