( CNN ) -- Canada announced Wednesday that it will dispatch a warship to Somalia 's coast to protect U.N. aid ships from pirate attacks . The Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec will escort ships carrying food aid to Somalia . `` Canada is stepping up to the plate by tasking Ville de Quebec with the role of escorting World Food Programme ships to ensure their safe arrival at designated ports , '' Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said in a government news release . The United Nations hunger program praised Canada for answering its call for help , and said it hoped other governments would step forward to take over from Canada once it completes its mission in a few weeks . The HMCS Ville de Quebec is a 440-foot frigate armed with torpedoes , surface-to-air missiles and other weapons , and carries a twin-engine Sea King anti-submarine helicopter . Ville de Quebec , which can travel at speeds greater than 27 knots , will be dispatched after Somalia 's transitional government formally authorizes the mission , the government 's news release said . WFP asked the world 's naval powers in mid-June to help its ships reach the more than 2 million people in need of aid . It put out the request weeks before French , Danish and Dutch warships ended their escort missions , which began in November . Pirate attacks on unescorted ships have been a growing problem in Somalia . Three European freighters were hijacked off the Horn of Africa in June , adding to the 27 other reported attacks this year , according to the International Maritime Bureau , which tracks piracy . WFP delivers 80 percent of its aid to Somalia by sea , and WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon said that if there are no warships to escort the food supply , the program will have to rely on ground or air travel to deliver the food . But both are dangerous and expensive . The agency said that if there is no assistance from naval powers , piracy will increase , and so will death and malnutrition . Smerdon said that although Somalia 's food crisis has n't yet reached the devastation of the early 1990s , `` We 're worried it will be . ''
Somalia to send 440-foot frigate to help aid reach ports safely . Mission must be authorized by Somalia 's transitional government . 80 percent of The HMCS Ville de Quebec 's food aid to Canada sent by ship . Heavily armed pirates frequently hijack cargo ships off the Horn of Africa .