Navy deploys 11 subs and 35 warships amidst growing military activities in Indian Ocean

Anti-piracy operations to continue in the western seaboard

New Delhi: Almost silently the Indian Navy has undertaken one of its largest deployments as 11 submarines and 35 warships are out in the sea not merely for securing the western seaboard for commercial trade but also for other specific missions amidst a growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean.

While 10 warships have been deployed in the northern Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden and eastern coast of Somalia for anti-piracy missions and responses to vessels hit by the missiles and drones, others are operating in the Bay of Bengal and southern Indian Ocean. Both the eastern fleet and western fleet are on deployment.

“Eleven submarines, 35 ships and five aircraft are operating at sea. Out of them 10 ships are in the western seaboard where the deployment will continue till the areas becomes safe for commercial traffic,” Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said here on Saturday, as the Indian Navy completes 100 days of its responses in the western seaboard.

Earlier this week Admiral Kumar spent three days at the Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam where he reviewed the ongoing operations. Senior navy officials said this was probably the largest deployment of submarines.

Such a heightened movement of Indian warships and submarines happens at a time when 13 Chinese ships including six military vessels and a satellite tracking one are sailing in the Indian Ocean. At any point of time six to eight People’s Liberation Army Navy ships are present in the region while submarines pass by from time to time.

Admiral Kumar said the operations in the western seaboard were to benefit the commerce as the freight insurance rate went up by 35-40% in the last few months. Also 40-50% shipping companies have re-routed their cargo via the Cape of Good Hope avoiding the Gulf of Aden, which increases the transport cost.

There are also apprehensions on the promulgation of the High Risk Area for north Arabian Sea, further jacking up the shipping cost for commodities like crude, fertilizer and finished goods. “The increased cost will be passed on to the consumers,” he said.

Earlier in the day, INS Kolkata brought 35 Somali pirates to Mumbai where they were handed over to the police for trial under the new Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022. The sea bandits were captured from MV Ruen in a 40-hour long daring operation after the pirates turned the bulk carrier – hijacked in December - into a mother vessel to launch new strikes.

Admiral Kumar said he suspected the existence of a “southern group of pirates” that might be having plans of using another hijacked ship as the mother vessel.

"We have always suspected that there are mother vessels, but we thought that they must be using the dhows. We were surprised that MV Ruen was being used as a mother vessel. We suspect that there may be a southern group which may have 35-60 pirates and are keeping a close watch on MV Abdullah which has been hacked and may be used as a mother ship," he added.