INS Sumitra was again pressed into action to locate and intercept another Iranian-flagged FV Al Naeemi, which had been boarded by pirates and her crew taken hostage
Indian Navy Foils Second Hijacking Bid in Arabian Sea in 24 hours
The Indian Navy on Tuesday said that its offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra rescued an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel (FV) hijacked by armed pirates off the Somali coast, the second such action in the last 24 hours in the Arabian Sea where the security situation has deteriorated significantly due to the resurgence of piracy, and missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The Indian Navy on Monday launched yet another rescue mission in the Arabian Sea, rescuing an Iranian vessel that had been hijacked by Somali pirates. The crew of the fishing vessel had been taken hostage and were released when an Indian warship reached the spot and coerced the pirates to deboard. The incident is the latest in a series of drone and pirate attacks on merchant vessels in the region, including the Red Sea and parts of the Arabian Sea.
The INS Sumitra thwarted the piracy attempt on FV Iman off the east coast of Somalia, rescuing fishing vessel Al Naeemi and 19 Pakistani nationals from 11 Somali pirates The Indian navy has stepped up surveillance in the troubled region substantially and deployed task groups consisting of around 10 warships in the face of the recent attacks on India-bound merchant vessels.
The response by the Indian Navy to the fresh incident came two days after its warship INS Visakhapatnam extinguished a fire onboard a commercial oil tanker with 22 Indian crew when the vessel was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden.
Indian Navy on January 5 thwarted an attempted hijacking of Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lila Norfolk in the North Arabian Sea and rescued all its crew members.
Liberian-flagged vessel MV Chem Pluto, with 21 Indian crew members, was the target of a drone attack off India’s west coast on December 23.
