Indian Navy Foils Another Pirate Attack: Rescues 11 Iranian & 8 Pakistani Crew Members Off East Coast Of Somalia

Indian Navy foiled another piracy attempt to hijack a fishing vessel, in a third anti-piracy operation this week, off the Somalia coast and rescued 11 Iranian and nine Pakistani crew on board the Iranian flagged trawler early Friday morning.

A total of 3,440 ships and over 25,000 seafarers have been safely escorted by the Indian Navy deployed since 2008 for anti piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden and East Coast of Africa.

The fishing vessel was hijacked by seven armed pirates on Wednesday night and tracked down by Indian Navy assets to intercept the FV Omari by Indian Naval warship INS Sharda, The

Iranian flagged vessel FV Omari with 11 Iranian and eight Pakistani crew members came under attack from armed pirates were rescued by INS Sharda commandos boarded the trawler to subdue the attackers for safe release of the crew and vessel.

“Indian Navy responded swiftly to information of Iranian fishing vessel hijacked by seven armed pirates and diverted INS Sharda deployed on anti-piracy patrol to monitor and intercept the trawler after undertaking surveillance in the area successfully located FV Omari to rescue the hostages. The hijacked vessel was sanitise to check on the well-being of the crew held captive by the Somali pirates,” confirmed Indian Navy spokesperson.

INS Sharada intercepted the hijacked fishing vessel and the elite Marine Commandos (MARCOS) boarded the trawler with integral helo and boats to coerce the pirates for safe release of crew along with the vessel.

Indian Navy has enhanced presence of ships, aerial surveillance by maritime patrol aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft in the Central Arabian Sea and Off East of Coast of Somalia for restoring maritime security in the region and safe passage of commercial shipping on the vital trade route connecting Asia to Europe.

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt on Friday informed the parliament that Indian Navy assets are being deployed in strategic waters in Djibouti, Gulf of Aden as well as in the North Arabian Sea to provide security to merchant vessels.

Earlier the Indian Navy had thwarted hijacking of Merchant Vessel Lila Norfolk and rescued 21 crew including 15 Indian onboard on 5 January while two other hijacking attempts were thwarted involving Fishing Vessel IMAN on 28 January and rescued 17 Iranian fishermen while another Fishing Vessel AI Naeemi was rescued on January 29 with 19 Pakistani nationals taken hostage from 11 Somali Pirates.