The pirates holding the Saudi-owned Sirius Star warned of a "disaster" if there is any military attempt to free the ship, after Somali Islamists threatened to attack the group holding the ship.

As foreign navies step up their presence in the Gulf of Aden, calls are being made for robust military action that would send a strong message to the pirates and curb the number of attacks.

The Sirius Star is the largest ship ever captured by pirates. With a cargo of two million barrels of crude oil, even the smallest chance of an incident has raised the spectre of what could be the world's worst-ever oil slick.

Five days after its capture, the Oil Spill Response Action Team in neighbouring Kenya conducted drills, said Captain Geoffrey Namadoa, pollution control officer with the Kenya Ports Authority.

"This was to sensitise our teams... to be alert if we are required to move north and to keep our equipment ready," Namadoa told AFP. "The biggest worry are the (marine) national parks and the beaches for the tourists."

The response team comprises the Kenya Ports Authority, oil firms, the Kenyan Navy and the maritime police in Mombasa -- a major port of entry for trade in Kenya and the wide East African region.

"The moment the ship was taken, it was a concern to us, because you know the amount of oil it is carrying," said Captain Dave Muli, a search and rescue manager with the Kenya Maritime Authority.

He predicted a spill could spread from the "west coast of India and the east coast of Africa".

The Sirius Star now is anchored off Somalia, north of Mogadishu. Experts say a slick would take time to reach Kenya as this season's monsoon currents are slow and drifting northwards.

"The impact will not be immediate but given time it will eventually come to Kenya," Namadoa said.

Harrison Onganda, researcher with the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, said a spill from the super-tanker "may need a response of international level, but we hope that it will not happen."

Onganda said Kenya's delicate fish catchment areas near Lamu island, up the coast from Mombasa, would be "impossible to clean" in the event of an oil spill.

"We are not so worried because I don't think these guys are so stupid to spill the oil, but this is no reason to relax," he told AFP, adding that another exercise was planned this week.

Environmentalists have also expressed worries following reports that a Ukranian ship -- laden with tanks, weapons and other military equipment and seized in September -- was booby-trapped.

"UNEP is monitoring the situation after reports that the vessel might be booby-trapped," United Nations Environment Programme spokesman Nick Nuttal told AFP.

The Germany-based environmentalist NGO Ecoterra International said the Ukrainian cargo MV Faina seized on September 25 by the same group of pirates holding the super-tanker has ammunition containing depleted uranium.

In a recent statement, Ecoterra spokesman Hans-Juergen Duwe urged all parties, including the world's top naval powers, to refrain from any show of military force to solve the crisis.

"If the hawks ... get their way and drive the case to an end by destroying the vessel and its cargo, a major humanitarian and environmental disaster will be created," he said.

"The acutely pending humanitarian and environmental crisis and disaster situation still can be averted by thorough negotiations because the pirates are only interested in the money and a quick, safe get-away."

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