The Indian Navy on Saturday apprehended 61 pirates and rescued 13 crew members held hostage after a gunbattle in the Arabian Sea, around 600 nautical miles west of Kochi and 400 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands. A pirate “mother vessel” (large boat captured by pirates and used as a base) was destroyed in the exchange of fire between the Navy and the pirates.
On March 11 (Friday), a Navy Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft responded to the distress call of a merchant vessel (MV Vancouver Bridge), which was under pirate attack. The pirates then aborted the attack and tried to speed away in the mother ship Vega 5. Two naval ships INS Khukri (missile corvette) and INS Kalpeni (water-jet fast attack craft), deployed for anti-piracy patrols, were ordered to intercept the pirate ship.
Late Saturday evening, around 9 pm, the INS Kalpeni intercepted the pirate vessel, after which the pirates launched two boats and started firing at the naval ship. The Navy hit back, firing at the pirate vessel, following which a fire broke out on board the pirate vessel. The pirates then started jumping into the sea. The Navy captured 61 pirates and rescued the hostages on board Vega 5. About 90 rifles and a few heavier weapons (possibly rocket propelled grenades) were recovered from the pirates’ possession.
Vega 5, a Mozambique-flagged fishing vessel, was hijacked by the pirates on December 28 last year and subsequently used as a pirate mother vessel. This ship had carried out several pirate attacks on merchant ships of many countries in the past four months. Of the 13 crew members held hostage by the pirates and rescued by the Indian Navy, 12 are from Mozambique and one from Indonesia.
“The entire operation, which began on the midnight of March 11, lasted 24 hours,” Narendra Vispute, assistant public relations officer (defence), said in Mumbai. Speaking about the exchange of fire following the firing by pirates, Mr Vispute said: “INS Kalpeni responded with limited firing. Thereafter it was observed that a fire had broken out on Vega 5. Usually mother pirate vessels carry additional fuel, water and food to continue their activities for months at a stretch.”
Naval ships and aircraft are in the area searching if there are more pirates in the vicinity or more fishermen being held hostage. The captured pirates and those rescued are likely to be in Mumbai by Tuesday or Wednesday.
With the southeastern Arabian Sea turning into a focal point for international maritime traffic, pirates are expanded operations from Somalia closer to the Indian coast, to the seas near Lakshadweep. The Navy has been carrying out anti-piracy patrols in the Arabian Sea near Lakshadweep in view of these developments. It had already apprehended two pirate vessels on January 28 and February 5 in the Arabian Sea and arrested a total of 43 pirates in the two incidents.