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“The Egyptian national security establishment works intensively on all options, examines what measures could be taken in this regard, and decides whether a diplomatic and political solution will be preferred."

“All options are open,” Egypt’s official MENA news agency quoted him as saying.

Egypt relies heavily on revenue from traffic using the Suez Canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and Zaki said that some vessels are now taking alternative routes.

Suez is Egypt’s third-largest source of revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers, and currently about 7.5 per cent of global trade passes through the canal.

The piracy threat has already prompted Norwegian shipping company Odfjell to order its ships to use the longer, more expensive but safer route around Cape of Good Hope, thus avoiding the Suez Canal and the Somali coast.

Warships from the United States, Russia, Britain and elsewhere are patrolling the dangerous Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb piracy attacks.

Russia’s ambassador to Nato has called for international forces to invade the Somali coast. “It’s up to the European Union, Nato and others to launch a coastal land operation to eliminate the pirates,” Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin said last night.

But America cautioned that a purely military approach was not the answer.

“You could have all the navies in the world having all their ships out there, you know, it’s not going to ever solve this problem,” said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary.

“It requires a holistic approach from the international community at sea, ashore, with governance, with economic development."

The African Union said that the surge in piracy was a result of worsening security in Somalia, has lacked an effective central authority President Mohamed Siad Barre was deposed in 1991, setting off bloody power struggles that have defied numerous bids to restore nomalcy.

The country is partly occupied by Ethiopian troops and riven by a civil war involving various hardline Islamist groups.

AU Commission chief Jean Ping called for “stronger and more co-ordinated efforts,” to return stability to Somalia,“including a rapid deployment of a United Nations peace force."

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