Pirates seized a Cyprus-flagged tanker with 23 crew on board Wednesday off the coast of the West African country of Benin, the latest in a wave of such attacks, the International Maritime Bureau said.

"Armed pirates boarded and hijacked a product tanker ... and took her 23 crew members hostage," the agency said on its website.

Previous such attacks have seen pirates steal fuel or oil being hauled by tankers with the aim of selling it on the region's lucrative black market then flee.

An official said two vessels came under attack shortly after midnight, but the pirates failed to take control of the second one, a Norwegian-registered ship.

"We have got two incidents. There is one with 23 crew that has been hijacked, the other one was boarded," Michael Howlett, a deputy director with the agency's commercial crime services unit, told AFP.

The pirates "could not get control of the second vessel", said Howlett, adding that the incidents "both happened almost at the same time".

Another official at the maritime body had earlier said a Cyprus-flagged tanker went missing at 0120 GMT Wednesday after it transferred oil to a Norwegian-registered vessel off Benin and was suspected to have been hijacked.

Benin navy Commander Maxime Ahoyo said he had been alerted of a pirate attack, but the one he was aware of occurred off the port of Kpeme in the neighbouring nation of Togo.

Togolese authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.

The maritime body reported on its website that robbers attempted to board a chemical tanker off Togo, but were unsuccessful and retreated. The same robbers had earlier attempted to board another nearby vessel, it said.

The maritime bureau has warned that the spate of ship hijackings off West Africa indicates the region could emerge as a new piracy "hotspot".

The coast of Benin, which neighbours Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, has seen a steep increase in hijackings this year, with 19 ships coming under attack.

"So far this year we have had 19 vessels (attacked). We had zero incidents in Benin last year -- it's a worrying trend," he said.

Of the 19, eight were hijacked, nine were boarded and there were unsuccessful attempts to attack two others, he said.

Noel Choong, head of the piracy centre in Kuala Lumpur, earlier told AFP that "these are heavily armed attacks and not just simple thefts. They also steal the crew's property and the ship's cargo as well".

The waters off the small nation of Benin appear to have become particularly risky due to the country's weak enforcement capabilities, he added.

"It also looks like it will become a hotspot as neighbouring Nigerian authorities have increased patrols in their waters while authorities in Benin lack the assets and resources to secure their waters," he said.

Petroleum tankers have been the targets, pointing to an organised crime network, said Howlett.

Unlike the explosion of piracy off the coast of Somalia on the eastern side of the continent in recent years, those involved in the recent West African attacks have so far not appeared to be after ransom payments.

Two analysts said last month that a relatively organised gang from Nigeria seemed to be the prime suspect in the attacks.

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