The head of the Suez canal yesterday urged navies patrolling the pirate-ridden waters off the east coast of Africa to take greater measures to protect ships, such as forming convoys and providing escorts for vessels vulnerable to attack.

Ahmed Aly Fadel, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said there needed to be greater co-ordination between the navies deployed to the region, and warned that Arab governments had to take action to prevent the piracy spilling over into the Red Sea, which is home to the key Saudi Arabia ports of Jeddah and Jizan.