Indian naval ships thwart two piracy attempts in Arabian Sea

New Delhi: For the second time in less than 36 hours, Indian warship INS Sumitra has foiled a piracy attempt involving an Iranian fishing vessel in the Arabian Sea, while a second platform INS Sharada played a key role in freeing a Sri Lankan fishing trawler from Somalian pirates last week.

INS Sumitra responded to a distress call from the Iranian boat Al Naeemi in southern Arabian Sea approximately 850 nautical miles west of Kochi whereas INS Sharada in collaboration with the Seychelles Defence Forces and Sri Lanka Navy successfully intercepted and rescued a Sri Lankan trawler Lorenzo Putha, 955 nautical miles east of Mogadishu on Jan 27th.

The two back-to-back piracy attempts in India’s western seaboard provides fresh evidence of how the menace is spreading in the Arabian Sea in the wake of the Red Sea crisis.

On Monday, the Indian offshore patrol vessel responded to a distress call from Iranian flagged fishing vessel Al Naeemi, which had been boarded by pirates and its crew of 19 Pakistani nationals were taken hostage.

“Responding swiftly, INS Sumitra intercepted the fishing vessel on Jan 29th and through coercive posturing and effective deployment of her integral helicopter and boats compelled the safe release of the crew and the vessel,” an Indian Navy spokesperson said here on Tuesday.

Indian sailors also boarded the Iranian vessel to sanitise it and check on the well-being of the crew who were held captive by the Somali pirates.

“INS Sumitra, over the course of less than 36 hours, has rescued two hijacked Fishing Vessels along with 36 crew (17 Iranian and 19 Pakistani) in southern Arabian Sea and prevented misuse of these fishing vessels as mother ships for further acts of piracy on merchant vessels,” the spokesperson said.

In a separate incident three pirates had boarded the Sri Lankan fishing trawler and hijacked it on Saturday. INS Sharada responded to the signal and launched its Sea Guardian high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle to locate the fishing vessel.

Indian officials coordinated with Sri Lanka and Seychelles international liaison officers through the Delhi-based Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region, resulting in quick interception of the hijacked fishing vessel by Seychelles Coast Guard ship Topaz in the island nation’s EEZ on Jan 29.

“The three pirates surrendered to the Seychelles Coast Guard and all six crew members are safe and the vessel is being escorted to Mahe,” the spokesperson said.

Multiple strikes by Somalian pirates in recent weeks have stoked the fear of resurgence of sea bandits in the Arabian Sea following deployment of a large part of the global naval assets patrolling the Gulf of Aden, in the Red Sea in the wake of drone and rocket attacks by Houthi rebels on commercial cargo.

The menace of piracy that peaked more than a decade ago and almost disappeared since 2017 has resurfaced after international naval forces moved to the Red Sea area following Houthi strikes as a reaction to Israel’s offensive on Gaza strip.