NEW DELHI : In a swift response, Indian Navy warships answered a distress call from Bangladesh’s merchant vessel ‘MV Abdulla’ in the Gulf of Aden.
“Indian Navy’s mission-deployed warship and a Long Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) aircraft responded to a piracy attack on MV Abdulla, a Bangladesh-flagged vessel, while en route from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates,” said the statement released by Indian Navy on Friday.
“The LRMP aircraft was immediately deployed upon receiving notification and located the vessel on the evening of March 12, attempting to establish communication with the crew. However, no response was received,” the Navy added.
Navy’s warship INS Tarkash, engaged in maritime security pperations, intercepted the hijacked merchant vessel on Thursday morning.
The safety of the vessel’s crew, all Bangladeshi nationals, held by armed pirates, was confirmed, and the warship maintained proximity to the merchant vessel until it reached Somalia’s territorial waters.
The Indian Navy has been actively assisting merchant vessels in the Indian Ocean following piracy and drone attacks. The series of attacks began in January when INS Sumitra rescued 19 Pakistani crew members from an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel attacked off the east coast of Somalia.
On January 5, the Navy prevented the hijacking of Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lila Norfolk in the North Arabian Sea, rescuing all crew members.
Earlier this month, the Indian Navy thwarted a piracy attempt off the East coast of Somalia on an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel with a crew of 11 Iranians and eight Pakistanis.
Speaking about the impact on maritime traffic in the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean, Commodore Anil Jai Singh (Retd) stated that such attacks would have their consequences. “With $200 billion of India’s trade flowing with Europe, North America, and South America at risk due to the blockage of the Suez
Canal, the Department of Commerce has worked out an action plan to cope with the crisis, including possibly re-routing shipments through the Cape of Good Hope,” he said.
Army raises 1st Apache attack helicopter squadron
Adding attack capability along the Western borders, the Indian Army’s Aviation Corps on Friday raised its first squadron of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. Named the 451 Aviation Squadron, it was formally raised at Jodhpur in the presence of Director General Army Aviation Lieutenant General AK Suri. “Army will receive the first batch of three Apaches in May and another three in July,” a defence source said. India and the US signed a contract in 2020 for the acquisition of six Apache attack helicopters.