Indian Navy rescues hijacked Iranian vessel with 17 aboard

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 29

Seventeen persons on board a hijacked Iranian fishing vessel have been rescued by the Indian Navy.

Responds to distress message

• INS Sumitra, deployed along the east coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, responds to distress message regarding hijack of Iranian-flagged fishing vessel Iman
• Intercepts the vessel and acts in accordance with the established standard operating procedures to coerce the pirates for the safe release of the crew along with the boat

Naval warship INS Sumitra, deployed for anti-piracy operations along the east coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, responded to a distress message regarding the hijack of Iranian-flagged fishing vessel Iman.

The fishing vessel had been boarded by pirates and the crew taken hostage.

INS Sumitra intercepted the vessel and acted in accordance with the established standard operating procedures to coerce the pirates for the safe release of the crew along with the boat. “All 17 crew members along with the boat have been released,” the Navy said today. The fishing vessel was subsequently “sanitised” and released for its onward transit, the Navy said.

In the past eight weeks, the Indian Navy has deployed 12 warships on patrol duty to keep the economically vital sea trade safe from pirates and from attacks by Houthi rebels based out of Yemen.

At the start of December last year, the Navy had two warships in the Arabian Sea for anti-piracy duties.

Each of these ships was carrying helicopters and was connected via satellite to the operations rooms of the Navy. All equipment to launch an attack or thwart it was on board, besides teams of marine commandos.

A fleet of maritime surveillance planes — Boeing P-8I and Predator drones — is on duty for constant surveillance from air. They scan the area and flag all vessels that raise suspicion.

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