Navy thwarts piracy attempt in Gulf of Aden

The Indian Navy foiled a piracy attempt in the Gulf of Aden, saving a merchant ship MV Lord Mountbatten. Naval ship INS Sharda on Tuesday responded to a distress call from the Liberia-registered commercial ship. The merchant ship was 230 nautical miles south west of Salalah in the Gulf of Aden. INS Sharda, which was on deployment in the Gulf of Aden since April 6 for anti-piracy patrol, quickly responded to the call. It reached the area around 7 pm on Tuesday and found two dhows along with eight skiffs.

Three of the eight small boats immediately fled the area on sighting the Indian warship, a navy spokesperson said here. With support from the armed helicopter of INS Sharda, the marine commandos boarded the dhows. They searched the ships and recovered one AK-47 rifle and 28 rounds of magazines The rifle was hidden in one of the dhows.

“The absence of any fishing gear on-board the two dhows and the remaining five skiffs indicated malicious intent and possible piracy-linked intentions,” he said. Since 2008, the Indian Navy has been sending its ships for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Till date, Indian warships have escorted as many as 3,749 merchant vessels in the 490 nautical mile  long internationally recognised transit corridor, where piracy attempts are the maximum.

Of them, 390 were Indian flag ships. Indian warships have intervened in 41 cases and caught 120 pirates besides rescuing 74 fishermen.