Navy Saves Two Fishing Vessels With Pakistani, Iranian Crew From Somali Pirates In 36 Hours
The Indian Navy's warship INS Sumitra on Tuesday rescued a Fishing Vessel, FV Al Naeemi and her crew from Somali Pirates.
The Fishing Vessel with 19 Pakistani nationals on board was attacked by 11 Somali pirates off the East Coast of Somalia.
Indian Navy rescues hijacked fishing vessel?
Responding to the distress call, the Indian Navy mission deployed INS Sumitra which intercepted the Fishing Vessel.
According to the Indian Navy, through coercive posturing and effective deployment of her integral helo and boats INS Sumitra compelled the safe release of the crew and the vessel.
The Navy said that the successful rescue of the hijacked Vessel by warship in the Southern Arabian Sea approx 850 nm West of Kochi, also prevents misuse of Fishing Vessels as Mother Ships for further acts of Piracy on Merchant Vessels.
Second rescue by INSSumitra
This was the second successful anti-piracy operation carried out by Indian Navy's INS Sumitra in 24 hours.
Earlier, INS Sumitra was mission-deployed to rescue another Iranian-flagged Fishing Vessel, FV Iman which had a crew of 17 Iranian nationals.
The fishing vessel was hijacked by pirates and her crew was taken hostage on the east coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden on Monday.
INS Sumitra intercepted the vessel and forced the pirates to safely release of crew along with the boat. The fishing vessel was subsequently sanitised and released for onward transit.
INS?Visakhapatnam rescued attacked oil tanker
Last week, the Indian Navy's warship INS Visakhapatnam had extinguished a fire onboard a commercial oil tanker with 22 Indian crew when the vessel was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden.
The Indian Navy deployed its missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam to assist the vessel after receiving a distress call from it on Friday night.
Increase in pirate attacks on ships
India's navy has been deployed continuously off Somalia since 2008, but in December sent a far larger force -- including three guided-missile destroyers and P-8I reconnaissance aircraft to "maintain a deterrent presence".
In recent weeks there has been an increase in the number of attacks on ships including cargo and oil tankers by Somalian pirates and the Houthis in Yemen.?
India has responded by stepping up its Navy presence in the ocean with more warships being deployed on anti-piracy operations.
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