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Indian Defense officials informed that in a major mission, the Indian Navy warship INS Sumitra rescued a hijacked fishing vessel Al Naemi with Somali pirates around 800 miles off the coast of Kochi. The Al Naemi was sailing off the East Coast of Somalia and successfully rescued 19 Pakistani nationals on Monday
This was the second rescue operation that the Indian Navy undertook in a span of 24 hours. Indian Navy had saved another Iranian-flagged fishing vessel, FV Iman, from Somali pirates, which had 17 crew members onboard in its anti-piracy operations along the east coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden on Monday.
The Indian Navy‘s Marine Commandos took part in the operation to rescue the crew of the fishing boat safely. “Indian navy warships are deployed all around the Indian Ocean region to provide safety and security in the area”, said Indian Defence officials.
The Indian Navy said that its warship INS Sumitra intercepted the distressed vessel and pressed into action to locate the fishing vessel, which had been boarded by pirates and saved 19 Pakistani national crew members who were taken hostage.
Earlier, India’s navy said it had deployed its warship INS Sumitra — which was on anti-piracy patrol off the east coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden — after receiving a distress message from the Iranian-flagged fishing vessel Iman.
The hijackings off Somalia have fuelled concerns about a resurgence of Indian Ocean raids by opportunistic pirates, coming on top of a separate surge of attacks launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Houthi gunmen have launched scores of attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden targeting Israeli-linked vessels in response to Israel’s war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
International naval forces have been diverted north from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea, sparking fears that pirates will exploit the security gap, with the first successful case of Somali piracy since 2017 recorded in December.
Pirate attacks off the Somalia coast peaked in 2011 — with gunmen launching attacks as far as 3,655 kilometres (2,270 miles) from the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean — before falling off sharply after international navies sent warships and commercial shipping deployed armed guards.
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Published: 30 Jan 2024, 08:56 AM IST
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