KOCHI: Prantalay 11, the pirate vessel seized by coastal security agencies on Sunday, is one of a series of three Thai fishing trawlers hijacked by pirates in April, 2010.
Of these, Prantalay 14 was sunk by Navy and Coast Guard off Lakshadweep islands last week. Prantalay 12 is believed to be still under the control of pirates. The Prantalays are distinguished from one another by their suffix number.
According to officials the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre (MRCC), Mumbai, received an information from the ReCAAP, Information Sharing Centre, Singapore, around 4 p.m on Saturday that MT Chios, a Greekflagged crude oil tanker transiting from Singapore to Yemen, was attacked by pirates about 82 nautical miles west of Suheli Par in the Lakshadweep islands.
On getting the information, MRCC Mumbai contacted MT Chios to ascertain the situation. The vessel reported that one skiff with five heavily armed pirates attempted to hijack the vessel. The attack was thwarted through antipiracy measures.
A communication from the Coast Guard said Coast Guard Ship Samar on routine patrol off the Lakshadweep islands was diverted for sanitising the area. On Sunday about 5.10 a.m. the ship encountered an unlit contact operating in the area suspected to be the pirate mother vessel.
ICGS Samar commenced shadowing the vessel. In the meantime a small contact approached the ICG ship from the stern at high speed. ICG ship fired at the contact and therefore it broke off its chase and returned to the pirate mother vessel," the release said.
Later on locating the pirate mother vessel, the security ships tried to contact the vessel. "The efforts to contact the mother vessel on MMB channel 16 did not yield any result. The vessel was sighted picking up the speed and proceeding west," the communication said. Later men with arms were observed on the upper decks of the pirate vessel.
The vessel subsequently stopped owing to firing by the security forces. After the security forces fired with higher grade weapons, the crew of the pirate vessel surrendered.
Personnel onboard the pirate vessel were directed to jump into the water for recovery. "While 22 Somalian pirates were apprehended and 16 Thai crew members were rescued by ICGS Samar, six Somali pirates were apprehended and 8 Thai crew members were rescued by INS Tir. During the operation, three pirates are reported to be injured and most of the arms from the mother vessel are suspected to have been dumped overboard," said a communication by the Coast Guard.
