Mumbai: The Indian Navy rescued 19 Pakistani sailors from Somalian pirates. The Indian warship INS Sumitra rescued an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel hijacked by pirates along the East coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.
On Monday, Iranian-flagged fishing vessel Al Naeemi was hijacked by armed pirates. The priates took the 19 crew members – all Pakistanis – hostage. The warship intercepted the fishing vessel and coerced the pirates to release the hostages.
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‘INS Sumitra intercepted the vessel, acted in accordance with the established SOPs to coerce the pirates to safely release the crew along with the boat and ensured the successful release of all 17 crew members along with the boat. The vessel was sanitised and released for onward transit, said the Navy. Mission deployed Indian Naval ships on anti-piracy and Maritime Security Operations in the Indian Ocean Region symbolise Indian Navy’s resolve towards safety of all vessels and seafarers at sea,’ the Indian Navy said in its statement.
This was the second anti-piracy operation carried out by the warship within 36 hours. On Sunday night, it responded to a similar SOS call from another fishing vessel that was captured by pirates.
About 10-12 warships are currently deployed in the Arabian Sea, including INS Kochi, INS Mormugao, INS Kolkata, INS Chennai, and a Talwar Class frigate. The Navy’s P8I maritime patrol aircraft, MQ-9B Predator drones, and Dornier aircraft are also carrying out enhanced surveillance of the region.
Swift response by #IndianNavy's Mission Deployed warship ensures safe release of hijacked vessel & crew.#INSSumitra, on #AntiPiracy ops along East coast of #Somalia & #GulfofAden, responded to a distress message regarding hijacking of an Iranian flagged Fishing Vessel (FV)… pic.twitter.com/AQTkcTJvQo
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 29, 2024
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