It was audacious enough to hijack a massive fully- laden oil tanker, but Somali pirates have now taken a further three ships.

Since the weekend seizure of the Sirius Star, which is carrying two million barrels of crude oil, vessels from Thailand, Hong Kong and Greece have also been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.

The Saudi owners of the Sirius are thought to be negotiating with the pirates.

The oil tanker, which is three times the size of an aircraft carrier, is the largest ever ship to be hijacked. It has been taken to the pirate’s haven of Harardhere, despite a crackdown in the region by navies from numerous countries.

Officials in this lawless region are accused of doing nothing to stop piracy, even though they do make public offers to help.

Puntland’s Fisheries Minister said: “If this ship is anchored off the Puntland Coast, we can arrange a military operation to free the ship and its crew as we did before. But we need the permission from the ship agency and the governments of the crew.”

In a show of resolve, Kenyan police have paraded eight suspected pirates in a Mombasa court. The British navy captured them, and killed two others, last week. Meanwhile, a pirate boat was today destroyed by the Indian navy.