Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Foreign Minister, speaks during the international anti-piracy conference in Dubai yesterday.

GOVERNMENT and industry representatives -including 30 foreign ministers - from more than 50 countries joined a Dubai conference this week to seek ways to suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia that threatens international shipping with costs of US$12 billion a year.

The conference is expected to end with a declaration outlining areas of cooperation between the private and public sectors with the aim of establishing a working framework to advance counter piracy measures.

Today, 26 ships and 532 hostages are held by pirates after 107 attacks on commercial cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and off the east African coast, reports the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), whose chief, Pottengal Mukundan, is attending the conference.

Co-convened by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and global marine terminal operator DP World, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, and His Excellency Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman DP World opened the two-day conference.

Under the theme "Global Challenge, Regional Responses: Forging A Common Approach to Maritime Piracy", the meeting has attracted foreign ministers, representatives from another 25 countries, the UN and its International Maritime Organisation (IMO), scores of industry leaders and international experts on maritime security and community development issues.

Included are the foreign ministers of most Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) countries, the foreign ministers of states directly affected by piracy such as Somalia, Djibouti, the Comoros and Tanzania, the UN deputy secretary general and foreign ministers from Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Also attending are Maersk chief operations officer Morten Engelstoft, International Association of Independent Tanker Owners president Peter Swift, NOL chief executive Ron Widdows, who is also chairman of the World Shipping Council, Messina Line CEO Stefano Messina and BIMCO security chief Giles Noakes.

Experts participating include Martin Murphy, Kings College, London and Capt Mukundan, the IMB director among others.