KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (AFP) – Stepped up naval patrols in the Gulf of Aden have contributed to a worldwide decline in pirate attacks, although the risk of piracy off Somalia remained high, a maritime watchdog said.

Sixty-seven incidents of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas were reported around the world in the three months to March, down from 102 in the same period last year, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.

The decrease was attributed at least partly to a dramatic decline in attacks in the Gulf of Aden, where reported incidents fell to 17 from 41 last year.

''With the increased naval presence in the Gulf of Aden, stopping and disarming suspicious pirates, the pirates did not have a chance to launch their attacks,'' Noel Choong, head of the IMB's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur told AFP.

Since 2008 an international armada has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes, in a bid to stop pirates from hijacking commercial vessels.

Choong said that attacks by Somali pirates remained high and that the number in the first quarter was ''hard to be used as a projection for the whole year.''

The IMB said it received reports of 11 vessels being hijacked in the first three months with another 18 vessels fired upon and 12 attempted attacks. A total of 194 crew members were taken hostage with 12 injured.

According to the watchdog, Somali pirates were responsible for 35 out of 67 incidents recorded in the first quarter, with the range of attacks extended from Oman in the Arabian sea to far south in the Mozambique Channel.

They were also operating in the Indian Ocean.

''The diverse location of the attacks demonstrates the increased range and capabilities of the Somali pirates,'' IMB director Pottengal Mukundan said.

''Attacks so distant from the Somali coast can only be facilitated with the use of mother ships,'' he added in a statement.

Off the east and south coasts of Somalia, 18 incidents were recorded in the first three months, compared with 21 in the same period in 2009.

''This decrease in attacks could be due to the specific naval targeting in addition to the NE (North East) monsoons in the area, which weakened towards the end of February and beginning of March,'' the IMB said.