INS Visakhapatnam assists British oil tanker on fire in Gulf of Aden amid Houthi attack

New Delhi: An Indian Navy frontline warship has responded to a distress call by a commercial tanker in the Gulf of Aden after the merchant ship was hit by a missile launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels resulting in a fire that continued for hours.

“INS Visakhapatnam, a guided missile destroyer, deployed in the Gulf of Aden responded to a distress call from MV Marlin Luanda on the night of January 26. The motor vessel has 22 Indian and one Bangladeshi crew onboard,” an Indian Navy spokesperson said here on Saturday. A US and French warship also responded to the distress call.

Based on a request from the master, the fire fighting team from INS Visakhapatnam comprising ten naval personnel with specialist fire fighting equipment embarked MV Marlin Luanda in the early hours of Jan 27.

After six hours of battling the fire along with the crew of MV Marlin Luanda, the Indian naval team has successfully brought the fire under control. “The team is currently monitoring the situation to rule out any possibility of re-ignition,” said an Indian Navy spokesperson.

INS Visakhapatnam is one of the ten odd frontline warships that the Indian Navy has put on deployment in the western seaboard following the Red Sea crisis and multiple piracy attempts near the Somalia coast.

The Marshall Island flagged ship, managed by a British firm, was carrying the Russian naphtha for Singapore. The operator of the British oil tanker said the vessel had been "struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden after transiting the Red Sea.”

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel's offensive in Gaza against Hamas. The US counter-strike has complicated the security scenario around one of the world's most used maritime routes connecting Europe with middle-east and Asia.

“Indian Navy remains steadfast and committed towards safeguarding motor vessels and ensuring safety of life at sea,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier this month, the Indian Navy responded to a drone attack distress call from MV Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden on the night of January 17, and on January 5, it had thwarted an attempted hijacking of Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lila Norfolk in the North Arabian Sea and rescued all its crew members.

Earlier, Liberian-flagged vessel MV Chem Pluto, with 21 Indian crew members, was the target of a drone attack off India's west coast on December 23.

Besides MV Chem Pluto, another commercial oil tanker MV Sai Baba that was on the way to India came under a suspected drone strike in the Southern Red Sea on the same day. The vessel had a team of 25 Indians.