The Indian Navy’s warship INS Chennai has reached the hijacked vessel MV Lila Norfolk in the Arabian Sea, the news agency ANI reported on Thursday citing navy officers. The vessel had 15 Indian crew members onboard. MV Lila Norfolk modified into once hijacked shut to Somalia’s fly. The navy talked about that Marine Commandos camouflage onboard the warship boarded the MV and possess commenced sanitisation.
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“INS Chennai diverted from her Anti Piracy patrol and intercepted the MV at 1515hrs today, on fifth Jan. MV modified into once saved below continuous surveillance the utilize of Maritime Patrol Airplane, Predator MQ9B and integral helos. The Indian Navy Marine Commandos camouflage onboard the Mission Deployed warship boarded the MV and possess commenced the Sanitisation,” the navy talked about.
INS Chennai diverted from her Anti Piracy patrol and intercepted the MV at 1515hrs today, on fifth Jan. MV modified into once saved below continuous surveillance the utilize of Maritime Patrol Airplane, Predator MQ9B and integral helos. The Indian Navy Marine Commandos camouflage onboard the Mission Deployed… https://t.co/0xP4JF94ID
— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2024
In accordance with the navy officers, INS Chennai launched its helicopter and issued a warning to pirates to desert the hijacked vessel, ANI reported.
15 Indian crew onboard the vessel
The vessel had 15 Indian crew onboard. “The Indian crew on board are stable and Marine Commandos (MARCOS) are ready for operations,” navy officers told ANI.
The navy had earlier obtained details about the hijacked vessel on Thursday. The navy’s aircraft had been maintaining a peep on the ship and communication had been established with the crew, navy officers talked about.
The ship had despatched a message on the UK Maritime Alternate Operations (UKMTO) portal pronouncing 5 to 6 unknown armed personnel had boarded on Thursday evening.
The UKMTO talked about that the ship modified into once 460 nautical miles east of the Somalian fly when it despatched the message.
Elevated surveillance in Arabian Sea after latest attacks
The Indian Navy has elevated its surveillance in the Arabian Sea after a latest spate of attacks in the gap. In accordance with a document by the news agency Reuters on Thursday, recordsdata from the navy’s Records Fusion Centre talked about that the Indian Ocean Impart confirmed as a minimal three hijackings in Dec 2023.
The hijacking of enterprise ships and attempted hijackings by suspected pirates shut to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea regions resumed in Dec after a six-year lull. Experts believed this modified into once because naval forces led by the US possess diverted their attention to the Purple Sea to thwart Houthi attacks.
Abhijit Singh, head of the Maritime Policy Initiative at the Observer Analysis Foundation, told Reuters, “The surprising revival in ship hijacking and attacks can only be attributed to the pirates’ willingness to comprehend reduction of the indisputable fact that the level of curiosity of anti-piracy maritime forces has largely shifted from the Gulf of Eden to the Purple Sea.”
(With inputs from agencies)
