Indian Navy Rescues 23 Pakistani Nationals From Somali Pirates In 12-Hour-Long Arabian Sea Operation

The Navy informed that the distressed vessel was intercepted on Friday and the operation was still underway to rescue the crew.

The Navy informed that the distressed vessel was intercepted on Friday and the operation was still underway to rescue the crew.

Source : X@indiannavy

New Delhi: The Indian Navy scrambled two ships in the Arabian Sea after receiving inputs of a “potential piracy incident” on a fishing vessel on Thursday late evening, according to an official statement. After more than 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures, the pirates on board the hijacked vessel were forced to surrender. The crew, comprising 23 Pakistani nationals, have been safely rescued, the Navy informed.

Responding to the incident onboard an Iranian fishing vessel ‘Al Kamar 786’, the two Navy ships, “mission deployed” in the Arabian Sea for maritime security and surveillance, were sent to rescue the “highjacked” vessel.

“Based on the inputs on a potential piracy incident onboard Iranian Fishing Vessel 'Al Kamar 786' late evening on 28 Mar 24, two Indian Naval ships, mission deployed in Arabian Sea for maritime security operations were diverted to intercept the hijacked fishing vessel. The FV (fishing vessel), at the time of incident, was approximately 90 Nm South West of Socotra and was reported to have been boarded by nine armed pirates,” the Indian Navy said on Friday.

#IndianNavy Responds to Piracy Attack in the #ArabianSea.

Inputs received on a potential piracy incident onboard Iranian Fishing Vessel 'Al-Kambar' late evening on #28Mar 24, approx 90 nm South West of Socotra.
Two Indian Naval ships, mission deployed in the #ArabianSea for… pic.twitter.com/PdEZiCAu3t

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 29, 2024

The Navy informed further that the distressed vessel was intercepted on Friday and the operation was still underway to rescue the crew.

“The hijacked FV has been intercepted on 29 Mar 24. The operation is currently underway by the Indian Navy towards rescue of hijacked FV and its crew,” read the Navy’s X post.

Pirates Surrender After 12 Hours Of Opns, Crew Of 23 Pak Nationals Evacuated: Navy

The Navy confirmed the rescue of the crew onboard the vessel stating, "After more than 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures as per the SOPs, the pirates on board hijacked FV were forced to surrender. The crew, comprising 23 Pakistani nationals, have been safely rescued."

"Indian Naval specialist teams are presently undertaking thorough sanitisation and seaworthiness checks of the FV in order to escort her to a safe area for resuming normal fishing activities," it added.

In a similar operation earlier, Navy warship INS Kolkata rescued the crew of merchant ship MV Ruen, which had been under attack from Somali pirates.

Sharing details of the operation that went down with pin-point precision, the Navy informed that the distressed crew was rescued while the Somali pirates were forced to surrender.

The pirates were eventually turned over to the Mumbai Police, the Navy informed.