The Indian Navy warship INS Sumitra on Monday thwarted a piracy attempt on the Iranian-flagged fishing vessel Al Naeemi, rescuing 19 Pakistani nationals off the East Coast of Somalia, as stated in an official statement.
This marked the second rescue operation within a day for the Indian Navy, having earlier saved another Iranian-flagged fishing vessel, FV Iman, from Somali pirates during its anti-piracy operations along the east coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, with 17 crew members onboard.
“INS Sumitra, over the course of less than 36 hours, through swift, persistent and relentless efforts has rescued two hijacked Fishing Vessels along with 36 Crew (17 Iranian and 19 Pakistani) in Southern Arabian Sea approximately 850 nm West of Kochi, and prevented misuse of these Fishing Vessels as Mother Ships for further acts of Piracy on Merchant Vessels,” Navy said in a statement.
The Indian Navy warship intercepted the distressed vessel and pressed into action to locate the fishing vessel, which had been boarded by pirates and saved 19 Pakistani national crew members who were taken hostage.
The warship acted in accordance with the established SOPs to coerce the pirates for the safe release of the crew and ensured the successful release of all 19 crew members along with the boat.
Subsequently, the ship also conducted a confirmatory boarding to check on the well-being of the crew members who were held captive by the Somali pirates.
Earlier, in a rapid and effective response, the Indian Navy’s mission-deployed guided missile destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam, on January 18 addressed a distress call from the Marshall Island-flagged MV Genco Picardy following a drone attack on the night of January 17.
INS Visakhapatnam, currently on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, promptly acknowledged the distress call.
The destroyer intercepted the vessels at midnight on January 18, to provide immediate assistance.
(Inputs from ANI)