Nineteen Pakistani fishermen were saved from Somali pirates who had taken over their fishing boats late at night by the Indian warship INS Sumitra. The Navy reported on Tuesday morning that the operation was conducted in Africa, east of Somalia. There were eleven pirates from Somalia on the ship. Following the rescue operation of one other Iranian-flagged fishing vessel, FV Iman, from Somali pirates on Monday during anti-piracy operations along the east coast of Gulf of Aden and Somalia, an official statement said that this is the Indian Navy’s second rescue operation in as many days. FV Iman has 17 crew members on board.
Three days prior, the Indian Navy’s warship INS Visakhapatnam responded to a missile strike in the Gulf of Aden by setting out a fire abroad on a commercial oil tanker carrying 22 Indian crew members. On January 5, the Navy prevented an attempt to take over the MV Lila Norfolk, which was flying the flag of Liberia, in the North Arabian Sea and saved all of its crew. On December 23, a drone attacked the Liberian-flagged ship MV Chem Pluto, which was carrying 21 Indian crew members, off the west coast of India. On Tuesday, the Indian Navy warship INS Sumitra conducted yet another anti-piracy mission in the Arabian Sea. Less than a day has passed since INS Sumitra saved sailors abroad on a fishing boat flying the Iranian flag. The Indian Navy flag was taken prisoner by the armed pirates. These sailors are all citizens of Pakistan. The fishing vessel was intercepted by a warship of the Indian Navy, forcing the pirates to release the hostage. INS Sumitra has responded to an SOS sent out by pirate-hauled ships twice in 24 hours.
Admiral R. Hari Kumar, the Chief of Naval Staff, stated a few days ago that the Indian Navy is increasing the deployment of warships in the Indian Ocean Region (OR) and is taking a tough stance against piracy there. Speaking to the media at INS Shivaji following the opening of an indigenously constructed CO-based air conditioning facility in partnership with IISc Bangalore, he added that the Navy has benefited from the anti-piracy act. In response to a query, Kumar stated that the Indian Navy is conducting an anti-piracy operation in 2008. Herd ships have been continuously deployed as part of this operation. The pirates are put off by the presence of warships. We believed that the era of piracy was nearly over last year, but an Indian ship and crew were recently taken over. The Navy chief stated, “We have increased our presence, and we are going after them aggressively.”
