HALIFAX, Canada: Canada will maintain warships in the Mediterranean Sea until the end of 2012, Defense Minister Peter MacKay announced Sunday.

The HMCS Vancouver frigate was originally deployed as part of NATO's mission in Libya. It will remain in the Mediterranean Sea until early 2012, when it will be relieved by the HMCS Charlottetown, MacKay said.

Officially, the ships will be tasked with "locating, tracking, reporting (and) boarding vessels suspected of international terrorism" alongside other NATO frigates.

But MacKay also said "there's no question having a ship in the region... gives us the capability to respond should certain things transpire" in Syria or other hotspots.

With Syria brushing off an Arab League deadline to end its lethal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, MacKay speculated that "further action will be required," noting Canada was in talks with its allies over the crisis.

The 134-meter (440-feet) HMCS Vancouver has a complement of 225 sailors and a Sea King helicopter on deck.

From August to the end of the NATO mission in Libya last month, it patrolled the waters off the embattled Libyan ports of Misrata, Tripoli, Tobruk and Sirte with other allied warships.