- Sunday, May 19, 2024
The Indian naval forces have responded to a number of distress calls from vessels and sailors over the past few weeks and rescued a number of ships.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S naval officials have rescued 19 sailors from Pakistan after their fishing vessel was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
It was the second rescue operation carried out by the Indian warship INS Sumitra in 36 hours.
In its earlier mission, the ship had rescued an Iranian crew of 17 members from a vessel that was also hijacked by the pirates, sources in the navy said.
The Indian naval forces have responded to a number of distress calls from vessels and sailors over the past few weeks.
Read: India’s navy rescues merchant ship after attempted hijacking; 21 crew members evacuated
#INSSumitra Carries out 2nd Successful #AntiPiracy Ops – Rescuing 19 Crew members & Vessel from Somali Pirates.
Having thwarted the Piracy attempt on FV Iman, the warship has carried out another successful anti-piracy ops off the East Coast of Somalia, rescuing Fishing Vessel Al… https://t.co/QZz9bCihaU pic.twitter.com/6AonHw51KX— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 30, 2024
Read: Indian navy bolsters Arabian Sea forces after attacks
Recent attacks on ships off Somalia’s coast have raised concerns over return of piracy in the region.
INS Sumitra has been sent for maritime security operations along Somalia’s east coast and the Gulf of Aden.
In a statement, the navy said the warship had responded to a distress call on Sunday (28) and intercepted an Iranian-flagged vessel.
Naval officers then “coerce[d] the pirates for safe release of crew along with the boat”, according to a post on X.
The ship was sanitised after the crew members were released. No update was shared about the status of the pirates.
On Tuesday, the navy said INS Sumitra was “pressed into action to locate and intercept another Iranian-flagged fishing vessel Al Naeemi”.
On January 26, the Indian Navy said it deployed warship INS Visakhapatnam in the Gulf of Aden after getting a distress call from Marlin Luanda, a tanker with links to the UK that caught fire after being hit by a missile fired by the Houthis.
French and American naval ships also came to the vessel’s rescue.
Earlier this month, Indian navy commandos had rescued 21 crew members from a Liberian-flagged ship that came under attack by pirates off the Somalian coast.
Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday attended an interaction forum at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management in Mumbai where he spoke about the country’s anti-piracy operations in the Arabian Sea, including its naval forces rescuing vessels of other countries from pirates.
#WATCH | Mumbai: EAM Jaishankar says, "The Indian navy has deployed ten ships today in that region because we got a double problem, we got a piracy problem, and we've got a missile drone problem. If you look, even in the last few days, actually one of our ships…extinguished a… pic.twitter.com/WefwPNtqK5
— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2024
He said India will not be considered a ‘responsible country’ if ‘bad things’ were happening in its neighbourhood.
“If you look, even in the last few days, actually one of our ships extinguished a fire and rescued the crew of a tanker, which had taken a drone today. It rescued Pakistani and Iranian fishermen from pirates. I feel today that India’s greater capability, our own influence and our reputation today warrant that we actually help out in difficult situations. Believe me, people look at us much more warmly, and much more friendly as a result of what we do now,” news agency Asian News International quoted the diplomat as saying.
