The Indian Navy on Thursday addressed a distress call from a merchant ship following a drone attack in the Gulf of Aden.
INS Visakhapatnam, a guided missile destroyer of the Indian Navy received a distress call from Marshall Island-flagged MV Genco Picardy which had 22 crew members including nine Indians after it was attacked 60 nautical miles South of Port Aden.
INS Visakhapatnam, which was on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, promptly acknowledged the distress call and intercepted the vessels at midnight on January 18, 2024, to provide immediate assistance.
Indian Navy's EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) specialists boarded the vessel early Thursday morning to inspect the damaged area and cleared the ship for further transit.
"INS Visakhapatnam, mission deployed in Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy operations, swiftly responded to a distress call by Marshall Island flagged MV Genco Picardy following a drone attack at 2311 hrs on Wednesday," an Indian Navy spokesperson said.
"INS Visakhapatnam, undertaking anti-piracy patrol in Gulf of Aden, acknowledged the distress call and intercepted the vessels at 0030 hours Thursday in order to provide assistance," he said.
Earlier this month, the Indian Navy's warship INS Chennai had rescued the crew of a merchant vessel after its attempted hijack in the Arabian Sea by pirates.
Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MV Lila Norfolk was hijacked by suspected Somalian pirates on January 4.
Responding to a distress call, INS Chennai intercepted MV Lila Norfolk, forcing the pirates to flee.
Last month, MV Chem Pluto, a chemical tanker, registered in Liberia was hit by a drone attack, suspected to have originated from Iran.??
The Israel-affiliated merchant vessel which had 21 Indians and one Vietnamese citizen as crew members was struck off the Indian coast on December 23.
Following the recent increase in attacks on merchant ships, Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar issued directives to the Indian warships operating in the Arabian Sea to take the strictest possible action against the pirates.?
The Navy had deployed three Guided Missile Destroyers, INS Mormugao, INS Kochi and INS Kolkata in the Arabian Sea to deter attacks on merchant ships in the region.
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