South Africa's navy could be escorting billions of dollars worth of cargo through treacherous East African waters within weeks as attacks by pirates escalate.

This was revealed on Friday during a briefing by the South African National Defence Force's joint operations division in Pretoria.

The SA Navy could soon be involved in patrolling and escorting hundreds of vessels off the east coast of Africa to Somalia.

It is believed South African ships would escort vessels from our territorial waters into Somali waters where other navies would take over the escort duties. It appears this request was made because of fears that piracy could move further south.

In June, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution to this effect.

A Nato flotilla is patrolling the Gulf of Aden to help the US 5th Fleet in anti-piracy patrols. The combined naval forces have repelled numerous pirate attacks since August.

About 20 000 ships sail through those waters each year.

The proposal for the frigates, the SAS Isandlawana, SAS Spioenkop, SAS Mendi and the SAS Amatola, to escort merchant vessels comes after Defence Minister Charles Nqakula recently requested an appraisal of the Somali piracy crisis.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, in 2008, 32 crew members were injured, 11 killed, 21 were missing and presumed dead and 889 taken hostage in 263 pirate attacks.

On Saturday, a naval source said it was just a matter of time before a decision was made on the SA Navy's involvement. "We, as South Africa, with all the latest military hardware, cannot be seen to be sitting back."

The navy had also been training to do patrols and escort convoys.