NEW DELHI: The Navy’s marine commandos on Friday boarded a Liberian-flagged merchant vessel that was sought to be hijacked by armed pirates in the northern Arabian Sea off Somalia’s coast and rescued 21 crew members, including 15 Indians. The commandoes then started sanitising the ship.
“The Indian Navy’s marine commandos present onboard the Mission Deployed warship boarded the merchant vessel and have commenced the sanitisation operation,” the Navy said. The merchant vessel MV Lila Norfolk had sent a message via the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) portal on Thursday evening indicating that approximately five to six unknown armed personnel had boarded the ship.
Responding swiftly, the Navy diverted its frontline warship INS Chennai from its anti-piracy patrol to assist the ship in distress. The Navy also deployed maritime patrol aircraft P8I and Predator MQ9B drones, which kept a close watch on the ship.
“The aircraft overflew the vessel on the early morning of (Friday) and established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the safety of the crew,” the Navy said. In an update on Friday evening, the UKMTO said, “Military forces have now boarded the vessel and conducted a thorough search. No unauthorised persons were found on board, all crew are safe and accounted for.”
The latest incident comes days after two merchant vessels, MV Ruen and MV Chem Pluto, came under attack recently in the Arabian Sea. MV Ruen was hijacked on December 14 while MV Chem Pluto was hit in a drone strike on December 23.
Sanitisation ops
The Navy’s Marine Commandos carry out a sanitisation operation onboard cargo ship MV Lila Norfolk in northern Arabian Sea