Navy thwarts another pirate attempt to seize vessel near Mumbai
TNN, Nov 13, 2010, 02.42am IST======================================================
NEW DELHI: Striking yet another blow against piracy, Indian warships, aircraft, helicopters and marine commandos, have thwarted a bid by pirates to seize a merchant vessel on the high seas around 450 nautical miles west of Mumbai.
This is the 19th time when the Navy has warded off a piracy attempt since it began deploying warships in the Gulf of Aden in October 2008 to protect merchant vessels from sea brigands. "Over 1,200 ships have been safely escorted by us through the strategic trade route of Gulf of Aden since 2008,'' said an official.
The latest encounter began when merchant ship MV BBC Orinoco, with a crew of 14 from Ukraine and Philippines, issued a distress call about being attacked by pirates on Thursday.
"The crew locked themselves in the ship's engine room and contacted their agents, UK MTO Dubai, who in turn asked us for assistance. We promptly dispatched missile corvette INS Veer to intercept the vessel,'' he said.
Another warship, destroyer INS Delhi, with a team of marine commandos, was also pulled out from an exercise and sent to the area. All this time, an IL-38 long-range maritime patrol aircraft trailed the merchant vessel to keep track of the pirates.
"The naval forces swung into action at day-break, with the marine commandos slithering onto the merchant vessel from a Sea King helicopter. All this action scared the pirates away,'' he said.
"A thorough search is currently in progress. The ship will set course for its destination once the boarding party reports all clear. Although no pirates remain onboard, implements such as crowbars, knives etc were found on-board,'' he added.
Apart from sending warships to the Gulf of Aden, India has also been sending offshore patrol vessels to the waters near Seychelles and Mauritius to bolster anti-piracy patrols there since pirates have begun to operate far away from the region off Somalia.
(source:the times of india)=====================================================
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