CORFU, Greece (AP) — Nato has replaced the flotilla conducting anti-piracy patrols off Somalia for the past three months with a new force that will continue the operation "indefinitely," a spokesman said.

Last month, Nato defence ministers met in Brussels to consider ways of tackling the problem of combating piracy in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

They ordered the long-term deployment of a naval squadron — known as Standing Naval Maritime Group Two — to the region. The new force will continue to operate in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, where international patrols involving warships from Nato, the European Union and other nations have been working to reduce attacks on merchant ships by Somali pirates.

The new task force will consist of five warships from Britain, the United States, Greece, Italy and Turkey. It will be commanded by a British officer, Commodore Steve Chick, from his flagship, HMS Cornwall.