Kuala Lumpur (PTI): The deft action by Indian Navy in destroying a 'mother ship' of Somali pirates came in for praise from an international maritime watchdog, which said such steps can be a "strong deterrent" to hijacking of ships in the African waters.

"If all warships do this, it will be a strong deterrent but if it's just a rare case, then it won't work" in stamping out the spiralling piracy in the Gulf of Aden, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre here.

INS Tabar sank a pirate "mother ship" in the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats on Tuesday.

"It is this type of action that is called for," Choong said.

Choong has said that ways must be found to stop the hijacking of vessels off Somalia and felt that strong "political will" was required to urgently stop the menace.

In their latest attack, armed Somali pirates have hijacked a Hong Kong-registered cargo vessel which had crew from India and some other countries. Pirates took the Delight, a cargo vessel carrying wheat bound for Iran, on their captivity on Tuesday.

Choong feared that as long as there was no "firm deterrent", such attacks would continue and expressed concern that the pirates had expanded the territory of attack in the African waters spreading to all directions. "They venture out armed with guns and grenades out in the sea about 400-500 nautical miles, which is really far," he noted.