KOCHI: Giving a big blow to Somali pirates, Indian coastal security forces sink Prantalay, a mother vessel used by the pirates, off the Laskhadweep coast.
In a first-of-its-kind mission against pirates in the Indian waters, the Navy and the Coast Guard rescued around 20 fishermen from Thailand and Myanmar, the original crew of Prantalay.
The Coast Guard and the Navy, which had been keeping vigil against the pirates, had identified two skiffs off Lakshadweep coast on Friday morning.
It was while responding to a call by MV CMA CGM Verdi, a Bahamas-flagged container ship on Friday morning, that a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft located two skiffs attempting an attack. Seeing the aircraft, the skiffs immediately gave up their piracy attempt and dashed towards the mother vessel Prantalay which hurriedly hoisted the two skiffs on board and set a westerly course to escape from the area. This action cleared all doubts of Prantalay being used by pirates as a mother vessel.
While the Coast Guard and the Dorniers continuously tracked Prantalay, Indian Naval Ship Cankarso, a recently commissioned Water Jet Fast Attack Craft which had already been deployed in the area for anti-piracy patrol, was directed to intercept Prantalay. Around 5 pm, INS Cankarso closed in on Prantalay and made all efforts to establish communication on the international Mercantile Marine Band, but the vessel did not respond and continued to proceed westwards in its effort to escape.
In keeping with internationally accepted norms, Cankarso fired a warning shot well ahead of Prantalay to compel the ship to stop. Instead of stopping, Prantalay suddenly opened fire on INS Cankarso, which retaliated. Then, a fire broke out on Prantalay and crew were seen jumping overboard.
In addition to the fishermen, 15 pirates were also apprehended. INS Cankarso was subsequently joined by INS Kalpeni and CGS Sankalp. Naval and Coast Guard ships and aircraft present in the area searching for any other fishermen/pirates.
In view of the dangers from vessels such as Prantalay, the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard have been maintaining vigil west of the Lakshadweep Islands for the last two months. South-eastern Arabian sea is a focal point of international traffic, and the security of these sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea is critical to the flow of global trade, sources with the Navy said.
