Delegates at an international conference on piracy said the aggressive approach would create a high-seas "arms race", and recommended non-lethal measures like fire-hoses and electric barriers to prevent boarding.

"We are against the arming of seafarers in the fight against pirates. We are also against armed private security guards," said Pottengal Mukundan, director of the London-based International Maritime Bureau.

"We think it can be counter-productive," said Mukundan, whose organisation monitors piracy worldwide and has urged greater international efforts to combat a spate of attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

"Pirates will upgrade their weapons. Only a few ships will have armed security. The vast majority are unlikely to do so," he told reporters.

Calls for action to shut down pirates operating from lawless Somalia have risen in recent months as the number of attacks has escalated, despite the presence of a multinational naval task force.

The IMB said there have been 114 attempted hijackings in the region so far this year, with 29 vessels seized, compared to 111 in 2008 including 42 vessels hijacked.

Tim Wilkins, Asia-Pacific manager for ship owners' association INTERTANKO, also said that arming vessels would increase fatalities which until now have been low despite the large number of attacks.

"We would certaintly not advocate arming of the crew. It is not the answer. Seafarers are not trained to use guns. They are trained to navigate ships," he said.

"We believe it will escalate the problem. At the moment, the pirates are not killing the seafarers. They only hijack and kidnap the sailors. Arming the crew will put their lives in danger."

Mukundan said armed crews would also create legal problems as ships passed through different territories or entered ports.

"A vessel may need to go into coastal waters. But they may not be allowed in if they have private armed guards on board," he said.

"There is also the question of who is in charge of the armed guards. Is it the ship captain or the guard themselves?" he said, adding that rather than reacting to attacks, it was better to focus on shutting down pirate networks.

Richard Farrington, chief of staff of the European Union Naval Force, said armed guards would be of uncertain quality and would operate in a hazy legal environment.

"It is an unregulated industry and you get what you pay for. I think there are significant legal difficulties -- their rules of engagement, their training, their competence, their identification of their targets."

"The pirates get better arms, they get bigger weapons -- I think it's a difficult issue and I am not a fan of it," he said.

"It sounds like a simple solution but in fact there is a lot to it."

However, Mark Valencia from the Maritime Institute of Malaysia said that with long-term plans to bring security and development to Somalia still a pipe dream, ship owners may have no choice but to hire armed guards.

He pointed to a recent incident when a cruise ship was attacked off the Seychelles, and Israeli guards successfully fought off the pirates.

"We are talking about well-trained professional soldiers who are trained to handle the situation, and who are a deterrent when all other options to protect ships fail," he said.

"In the final option, ships may have to consider using private security companies, especially if a land solution is way off, and when international navies are unable to protect ships because we are looking at such a long time frame."

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