New Delhi, November 11
Within weeks of the Indian government sending out its naval warship to patrol the Gulf of Aden, that leads to the busy Suez Canal sea-trading route, the Indian Navy’s marine commandos today thwarted an attempt by pirates to take over an Indian merchant vessel.
This is the first rescue since India decided to send its Navy on October 16. The Navy was deployed after pirates took over MV Stolt Valor, another merchant ship with a crew of 18 Indians on board. The sailors are yet to be rescued.
In today’s operations, the merchant ship, MV Jag Arnav, had crossed the Suez Canal and was eastward bound when it was surrounded by the pirates. The captain of the 38,265-tonne bulk carrier caught the attention of INS Tabar, a “Talwar class” frigate that was on patrol duty in the Gulf of Aden.
An armed helicopter stationed on the Indian naval ship was sent to intervene. The commandos attacked the pirates and repulsed them,the Naval authorities here said. Since the policy is not of hot-pursuit, the pirate ship was not chased. The Naval spokesperson did not reveal the type of weapons used by the commandos. The pirates came on speed boats armed with automatic weapons.
The attack took place around 10.30 am (IST) and it was 60 nautical miles of Aden.
The Naval ship was about 25 nautical miles away from the place of the pirate attack and the use of chopper was necessitated. After the commandos did the job, the INS Tabar closed in on the merchant vessel and escorted it to safety.
The merchant vessel is owned by Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company. Since it was an Indian registered ship, rescuing it was within the Navy’s mandate. More than 60 per cent of Indian trade is through the Suez Canal.
Within hours of the rescue, Naval chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said: “Indian Naval ships operating in piracy-infected areas are always in a high-state of alert and have the capability to intervene with air or ship borne weapons. Their mandate is to ensure that the safety of our sovereign assets is maintained”.
Already, India has identified that a large number of sea pirates were operating from the ports of Somalia off the north-east African coast.
The Navy patrolling was being carried out in coordination with the shipping ministry and is intended to instill confidence in the large sea-faring community from India.
Meanwhile, the Japanese shipping company that owns MV Stolt Valor has been holding negotiations with the pirates to secure the sailors’ release, even as there were demands from their family members that the Indian government should intervene and get them released.
