Indian Navy's INS Sumitra Rescues Fishing Vessel Hijacked by Somalian Pirates in Arabian Sea

The Indian Navy warship INS Sumitra rescued 17 crew members on board an Iran-flagged fishing vessel MV Iman hijacked by Somalian pirates 700 nautical miles west of Kochi in the Arabian Sea.

This comes just two days after the Navy deployed its missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam in the Gulf of Aden to assist and extinguish the fire onboard an Marshall Islands-flagged vessel with 22 Indian crew onboard.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had said that the vessel, MV Marlin Luanda, was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants.

Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said that after six hours of battling the fire along with the crew of the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, the Indian Naval firefighting team successfully brought the blaze under control.

India gained international praise for its timely help to the commercial oil tanker struck by the missile in the Gulf of Aden.

On January 17, Indian Navy’s INS Visakhapatnam again saved a cargo vessel that came under a drone strike in the Gulf of Aden. The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel had 22 members onboard, of which nine were Indians.

The attack on the vessel took place 60 nautical miles South of Port Aden.

INS Visakhapatnam responded to the attack within an hour of receiving a distress call from the vessel Genco Picardy, the Indian Navy said in a statement.

Earlier this month, in a big success in international waters, Indian Navy’s elite marine commandos rescued 21 crew members including 15 Indians from a bulk carrier in the North Arabian Sea and sanitised it in a swift operation.

Navy spokesperson Commander Madhwal said, ““All 21 crew, including 15 Indians onboard the vessel, were safely evacuated from the citadel.”

In a quick response to the attempted hijacking of the Liberian-flagged merchant vessel – MV Lila Norfolk — the navy diverted INS Chennai from her anti-piracy patrol.

The warship intercepted the vessel around 3.15 pm on January 5, and it was kept under continuous surveillance using maritime patrol aircraft, Predator MQ9B drones and integral helos.

“The Indian Navy’s marine commandos present onboard the mission deployed warship boarded the merchant vessel and have carried out the sanitisation operation,” Madhwal said.

The Indian Navy has increased its presence in the North and Central Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to monitor the maritime security situation.