Watch: Indian Navy foils piracy attempt, rescues Liberian ship in the Gulf of Aden

INS Sharda is deployed for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden since 06 April 17.

NEW DELHI: Indian Navy rescued a merchant vessel MV Lord Mountbatten from a piracy attempt in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday. Indian Navy patrol ship, the INS Sharda, fought off pirates trying to take control of a Liberian registered ship. The incident took place on Tuesday about 230 nautical miles or 426 km southwest of Salalah in the Gulf of Aden. INS Sharda is deployed for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden since 06 April 17. Images: Indian Navy/Twitter "On 16 May 17, at about 1645 hrs, the ship received a distress call from MV Lord Mountbatten (a Liberian registered ship), in position 230 nm South-West of Salalah (in the Gulf of Aden)," Indian Navy said in a statement. "The vessel had reported an incident of attempted piracy by two suspicious mother vessels alongwith 7-8 skiffs," it said. Sharda, which was at that time 30 nautical miles or 56 km East of the reported position, immediately responded to the distress call and proceeded at best speed to investigate the incident. Upon arriving in the area by about 1900 hrs, Sharda detected two dhows alongwith eight skiffs in vicinity, three of which fled the area at high speeds on sighting the warship. "Indian Navy’s MARCOS, with support of the armed helicopter from the ship investigated the dhows and their skiffs by conducting board and search operations." "The absence of any fishing gear onboard the two dhows/ remaining five skiffs indicated malicious intent and possible piracy-linked intentions," the statement said. Navy's MARCOS commandos found one high calibre AKM rifle alongwith one filled magazine (28 rounds) onboard one of the dhows. The weapon and ammunition was confiscated to prevent future illegal misuse.

#AntiPiracyOpsinGoA INS Sharda foils a piracy attempt on MV Lord Mountbatten, Liberian registered ship in Gulf of Aden @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/QRIJXjNPgT

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 17, 2017