Somalia's modern-day pirates have stepped up their campaign of plunder, seizing three ships in a single day.

In all, 27 ships have been attacked this year in the Gulf of Aden or along the southern Somali coast, as sophisticated criminal gangs use the lawless country as a base for a racket that earns them millions of dollars a year in ransom.

Where once they might have used cutlasses and cannon, today’s buccaneers are armed with AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades.

Noel Choong, of the International Maritime Bureau, said that an international naval force set up to deter pirates was following three vessels seized yesterday. “All the three ships are still moving and appear to be heading toward Somali territorial water," he said. "A warship has been dispatched to monitor and track the vessels,” he said.

The waters around Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world for commercial shipping. With no central government or effective law enforcement since 1991, the country has been riven by years of clan violence and divided into a series of fiefdoms controlled by warlords.

An interim government, established with international support in 2004, has failed to assert its authority and continues to battle Islamist insurgents.

This week the fighting spread to Kismayo, where 3,000 people were forced to flee their homes. In the capital, Mogadishu, Islamist militias launched an audacious mortar attack on the presidential palace provoking a heavyhanded response by Ethiopian soldiers who are propping up the feeble Government.

The result is a country in which thugs and gangsters control almost every aspect of life — including the waters. A pirate network is believed to stretch from Europe to Dubai, identifying targets and feeding intelligence to the gangs based along Somalia’s long coastline.

The past week has seen an unprecedented wave of attacks. An Iranian bulk carrier with 29 crew and a Japanese-operated chemical tanker with 19 crew were seized within an hour of each other in the Gulf of Aden yesterday.

Brigands struck again later in the day, snatching a German-operated cargo ship with nine crew flying the Antigua and Barbuda flag.

Two days earlier armed men hijacked a Malaysian palm oil tanker; in all, seven vessels are currently being held.

Andrew Mwangura, who monitors piracy for the Seafarers’ Assistance Programme based in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, said that it was the first time three ships had been seized in a day. “There have been a lot of gunmen joining the pirate gangs. They are making good business and it is an attractive choice for many young men at the moment,” he said.

This year the United Nations Security Council gave permission to warships to chase hijacked vessels into Somalianl waters. A six-nation coalition, including Britain and the US, has been escorting ships carrying aid and monitoring the seas.

Mr Mwangura said that they were still failing to tackle the problem. Flags of convenience also hampered an effective response. “They may have a flag of one country, be owned by a second and have a crew from a third, which adds a lot of complications to trying to free the vessels,” he said.

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