(Adds France clarifying number of participants)

By David Brunnstrom

DEAUVILLE, France, Oct 2 (Reuters) - EU states are aiming for quick deployment of an air and naval force to help the international effort to combat piracy threatening sea lanes off the coast of Africa, officials said on Thursday.

France said on Thursday at least nine EU countries supported participation in the operation off Somalia, in cooperation with NATO, and that it hoped the plan could be finalised next month.

The sea lane in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia links Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal and is critical to Gulf oil shipments. Somali pirates are now holding 13 vessels captive with more than 200 sailors.

Global shipping groups say continued inaction risks a repetition of the early 1970s crisis when the Suez Canal was closed and shipping diverted round the Cape of Good Hope.

French Defence Minister Herve Morin said after talks among EU defence ministers in Deauville, France, that as well as France the countries were Belgium, Spain, Germany, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden.

He said Britain had also "opened the door" to possible participation.

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said EU states planned to deploy three frigates, a supply ship and three surveillance ships. He said Germany planned to send a frigate.

"The aim is to go quickly," French Defence Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire said when asked how long the deployment would take.

British Defence Minister Des Browne said that as the world's biggest trading grouping, protecting the EU's security and way of life depended on being able to secure global trade routes.

"It's not just inside the EU or on the borders of the European Union, it's off the coast of Somalia and Kenya, it's more broadly, it's ensuring that oil that travels around this world travels around it securely," he said.

He said the EU had to work closely with the United States, "the country that consistently makes the most contribution to the security of this world and its maritime shipping".

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters a majority of the 27 EU states backed having such a mission coordinated under EU auspices, and the bloc was ready to answer a U.N. call for help to protect humanitarian aid shipments.

Spain already has a military plane in the region and France a naval ship.

Heavily armed Somali pirates have hijacked more than 30 vessels off the coast of Somalia this year, making its waters the most dangerous in the world.

Somali pirates are demanding $20 million to free 20 crew members and cargo of 33 tanks, grenade-launchers and other weapons aboard a Ukrainian ship hijacked last week.

The U.S. Navy said last month that allied warships in the region had stopped 12 attacks since May. (Editing by Alison Williams)

AlertNet news is provided by