Navy thwarts piracy bid on Indian ship in Gulf of Aden

NEWDELHI: The Indian Navy foiled a piracy bid against an Indian merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Friday after it received a distress call, a navy spokesperson said.

The navy’s warship INS Trishul, which is deployed in the Gulf of Aden, reacted swiftly after merchant vessel Jag Amar reported an attempted piracy at 12.30 pm.The commercial vessel had 26 Indians on board.

Navy officials said Jag Amar faced threat from 12 armed pirates who were attempting to board the vessel when the Indian frigate Trishul reached the area. At 12. 30 p.m the first distress call came from Jag Amar and a Chetak helicopter was immediately launched from Trishul.

Simultaneously, a Prahar team consisting of marine commandos charted course towards the pirated skiff in their boat. The marine commandos found that there was no fishing gear in the skiff and only piracy triggers.

The navy’s elite marine commandos boarded the merchant vessel to secure the ship.

Indian Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma said the recoveries made by commandos included a Kalashnikov assault rifle, 27 rounds, grapnels, ropes, fuel drums and ladders.

There was a lull in the Gulf of Aden — located in the Arabian Sea — for some time but now the pirates seem to be active again.

In May, Indian Navy’s warship INS Sharda thwarted a piracy attempt in the gulf after it received a distress call from a Liberia-registered merchant vessel 230 nautical miles southwest of Oman’s Salalah port.

In April, the India and Chinese navies had rescued a merchant ship in the same region after it was hijacked by Somali pirates.