On Monday, January 30, the Indian Navy warship INS Sumitra successfully rescued a hijacked fishing vessel Al Naeemi and the 19 crew members onboard, all Pakistani nationals. The Pakistani vessel was hijacked by 11 Somali pirates, around 800 miles off the coast of Kochi, along the East Coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.
This rescue operation occurred within 36 hours after INS Sumitra, which was deployed on anti-piracy operations, rescued another Iranian fishing vessel FV Iman with 17 crew members on board. In a total of 36 hours, INS Sumitra rescued two hijacked fishing vessels along with 36 crew, 17 Iranian and 19 Pakistani, in the southern Arabian Sea.
The Indian Navy took to social media to inform about both the anti-piracy operation successfully thwarted by INS Sumitra, the indigenous offshore patrol vessel of the Indian Navy, deployed for anti-piracy and maritime security operations in the east of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.
“#INSSumitra Carries out 2nd Successful #AntiPiracy Ops – Rescuing 19 Crew members & Vessel from Somali Pirates. Having thwarted the Piracy attempt on FV Iman, the warship has carried out another successful anti-piracy ops off the East Coast of Somalia, rescuing Fishing Vessel Al Naeemi and her Crew (19 Pakistani Nationals) from 11 Somali Pirates. #INSSumitra, post rescuing MV Iman, was again pressed into action to locate & intercept another Iranian flagged FV which had been boarded by pirates and her Crew taken hostage. Responding swiftly to the developing situation Sumitra intercepted the FV on PM 29 Jan 24 & through coercive posturing & effective deployment of her integral helo & boats compelled the safe release of the crew and the vessel. This rescue of hijacked Vessels, through swift, persistent and relentless efforts by Mission Deployed #IndianNavy warship in the Southern Arabian Sea approx 850 nm West of Kochi, also prevents misuse of Fishing Vessels as Mother Ships for further acts of Piracy on Merchant Vessels,” said the Indian Navy in a long statement and also shared pictures of the operation.
Notably, only on January 29, Sunday, INS Sumitra had responded to a distress call regarding the hijacking of FV Iman and safely rescued the crew members and arrested the hijackers.
In a post on Sunday, the Indian Navy spokesperson said, “A swift response by the Indian Navy’s mission-deployed warship ensures the safe release of the hijacked vessel and crew. INS Sumitra, on anti-piracy operations along the East coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, responded to a distress message regarding the hijacking of an Iranian-flagged Fishing Vessel (FV) Iman. The FV had been boarded by pirates, and the crew had been taken as hostages.
After that, the fishing vessel was sanitized and released for onward transit, the Navy added.
“The pirates have been disarmed and asked to move towards Somalia. The INS Sumitra has now moved out of the area. The ALH Dhruv choppers on board the warship had encircled the hijacked vessel to issue warnings to the pirates on board it,” said defence officials.
The development came as the Iran-backed Houthis launched fresh attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, especially those that were linked to Israel. They have threatened to attack any vessel they believe is either going to or coming from Israel. While earlier they attacked vessels directly linked to Israel, now they have started to attack any ship using that route.
On Friday, January 26, the British oil tanker MV Merlin Luanda was struck by a missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Following this, the British oil tanker made a distressed call to the Indian Navy which in turn deployed its guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam to rescue lives at the high sea.
Earlier in January, INS Visakhapatnam addressed a distress call from the Marshall Island-flagged MV Genco Picardy. It was hit by a drone attack on the night of 17th January 17. INS Visakhapatnam has been currently on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. It promptly acknowledged the distress call by MV Genco Picardy. Subsequently, the destroyer intercepted the vessels at midnight on 18th January 2024, to provide immediate assistance.
Previously, the Houthis had attacked an oil tanker that had Indians aboard. On 24th December 2023, an oil tanker that had 25 Indians onboard was hit by a drone attack by the Houthis in the Red Sea.