'We Had Lost All Hope': Captain Of Missile-Hit Ship Expresses Gratitude To Navy For Rescue

A merchant vessel faced a harrowing ordeal in the Gulf of Aden when it was struck by a missile, igniting a massive blaze onboard.

Indian Navy promptly responded after an SOS call

The Indian Navy's INS Visakhapatnam promptly responded to the distress call from the vessel named Marlin Launda, which had 22 Indian nationals and one Bangladeshi national among its crew.

After receiving the SOS signal, INS Visakhapatnam swiftly deployed a firefighting team to tackle the inferno. The Indian Navy shared a video on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, showing the captain of the stricken vessel expressing gratitude to the personnel of the warship for their prompt response.

"I thank Indian Navy warship INS Visakhapatnam. We had lost all hope of fighting this fire. Hats off to Indian Navy whose experts came onboard to fight the fire. Indian Navy went out of the way to help us," Abhilash Rawat, captain of the merchant vessel said.

Indian Navy's statement?

In a statement, the Indian Navy reported that a team of ten firefighters battled tirelessly for six hours to bring the blaze under control. "Fire onboard MV #MarlinLuanda brought under control. After six hours of battling the fire along with the crew of the MV, the firefighting team has successfully brought the fire under control. The team is currently monitoring the situation to rule out any possibility of reignition," stated the Navy.

Additionally, assistance was provided by US and French warships in response to the distress call.According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), the vessel, owned by a UK-based company, fell victim to a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Incident amid tensions in the region due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict

The incident occurred amid heightened tensions in the region due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, during which Houthi rebels have targeted merchant vessels in the Red Sea.This incident echoes a similar event earlier this month when INS Visakhapatnam responded to a distress call from another merchant vessel, MV Chem Pluto, which came under a drone attack off India's west coast.

The Liberian-flagged vessel, with 21 Indian crew members, was targeted on December 23, highlighting the persistent threats faced by maritime vessels in vulnerable regions.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit?Indiatimes News.