SANAA, Dec 28, 2009 (AFP) - Somali pirates have seized a Yemeni freighter and its 15-strong Yemeni crew in the Gulf of Aden, the interior ministry said on Monday.

The Al-Mahmoudia2 had set sail from the port of Aden in southern Yemen on December 18 heading for the Indian Ocean, the ministry said, without specifying its cargo or destination port.

"The Yemeni coast guard have taken the necessary steps to follow the affair and to try to recover the vessel," the ministry added without elaborating.

The world's naval powers last year deployed warships in the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb attacks by ransom-hunting pirates that were seen as a threat to one of the globe's most crucial maritime trade routes.

But the vast extent of the waters under threat has made it difficult to stop all attacks, particularly after the pirates broadened their scope to the wider Indian Ocean, as far as the Seychelles and beyond.