Cambodia, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam have already ratified the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia, the Singapore foreign ministry said in a statement.

Bangladesh and Brunei have signed the pact but are still in the process of ratifying it.

Singapore serves as the depository of the agreement and will host the group's information sharing centre, created to "help improve operational cooperation when responding to security incidents at sea," the statement said.

Operations at the centre will be launched during the inaugural meeting of its governing council in late November.

The pact is the first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia.

Officials say that vessels plying the Malacca Strait, which passes through Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian territorial waters, are vulnerable to pirates and seaborne "terrorism".

The three countries have launched coordinated military air patrols over the waterway, one of the world's most vital sea lanes.