Navy commandos board hijacked merchant vessel; rescue all 21 crew members, including 15 Indians

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, January 5

Indian Navy commandos on Friday evening boarded the merchant vessel MV Lila Norfolk and rescued all 21 crew members, including 15 Indians, who had been hiding a safe room on the vessel since yesterday when pirates boarded it.

Pirates boarded the ship in the Arabian Sea, some 850 km east of Africa’s Somalian coast. An operation had been on mid-sea, since the early hours of Friday.

“The Indian Navy Marine Commandos present on board the warship (INS Chennai) boarded the MV Lila Norfolk and have ‘sanitised’ the vessel and confirmed absence of the hijackers,” Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said on Friday evening.

The attempt of hijacking by the pirates was probably abandoned with the forceful warning by the Indian Navy maritime patrol aircraft and interception by the Indian Naval warship, INS Chennai, Commander Madhwal added.

The INS Chennai is still in vicinity of the MV Lila Norfolk and rendering support to restore its power generation and propulsion for voyage to next port of call.

The merchant vessel, a 1,70,000-tonne bulk carrier, is registered in Liberia.  It was sailing from Port Du Aco in Brazil, and was bound for Khalifa Bin Salman in Bahrain when it was hijacked by the pirates.

The UK Maritime Trade Organisation (UKMTO) said the crew had locked themselves in the strong room on board the ship since yesterday when the pirates boarded the vessel mid-sea.

The Navy warship INS Chennai, that was on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden was directed to change course and assist the merchant vessel. The warship, carrying its suite of weapons and an on board helicopter, intercepted the MV Lila Norfolk around 3: 15 pm today.

The Indian Navy responded to the hijacking incident in the Arabian sea in the early hours on Friday. The vessel’s crew on Thursday sent a message to the UKMTO indicating that five to six armed personnel had boarded the vessel.

An Indian Navy Maritime Patrol Aircraft — the Predator MQ9B — was given the coordinates of the besieged vessel and it maintained surveillance.  

The Navy aircraft overflew the vessel early Friday morning. “It established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the safety of the crew,” Commander Madhwal said.

Indian Navy’s task groups deployed in the Arabian Sea have been physically investigating fishing vessels, and marine commandos, in the past week, boarded vessels that looks suspicious.

In the last week of December, the Indian Navy created task groups with five warships, surveillance planes and UAVs.

Indian Naval ships and aircraft remain mission deployed for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations.

Navy spokesperson had said on January 3 that “in the last one week, task groups deployed in the area have investigated large number of fishing vessel and boarded vessels”.

Indian Naval Maritime Patrol Aircraft, the Boeing P8I, and Predator UAVs are undertaking persistence surveillance over the area.