Navy commandos board hijacked merchant vessel off Somalia coast

Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, January 5

Indian Navy Commandos on Friday evening boarded the merchant vessel MV Lila Norfolk that was under threat from pirates in the Arabian Sea, some 850 km east of Africa’s Somalian coast.

Fifteen of the crew members are of Indian origin. The merchant vessel, a 17,000-tonne bulk carrier, is registered in Liberia.  

The UK Maritime Trade Organisation (UKMTO) said the crew had locked themselves in a strong room on board the ship since yesterday when the pirates boarded the vessel mid-sea.

The Navy warship, INS Chennai, that was on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden was directed to change course and assist the merchant vessel. The warship, carrying its suite of weapons and an on board helicopter, intercepted the MV Lila Norfolk around 3: 15 pm today.

“The Indian Navy Marine Commandos present on board the warship (INS Chennai) boarded the MV Lila Norfolk and have commenced the ‘sanitisation,” Navy Spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said on Friday evening.

‘Sanitisation’ means the armed commandoes will check for pirates who could be hiding on the ship and bidding their time.

The merchant vessel was sailing from Port Du Aco in Brazil, and it was bound for Khalifa Bin Salman in Bahrain when it was hijacked by the pirates.

The Indian Navy responded to the hijacking incident in the Arabian Sea in the early hours on Friday. The vessel’s crew on Thursday sent a message to the UKMTO on indicating that five to six armed personnel had boarded the vessel.

An Indian Navy Maritime Patrol Aircraft — the Predator MQ9B — was given the coordinates of the besieged vessel, and it maintained surveillance.  

A Navy aircraft overflew the vessel early Friday morning. “It established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the safety of the crew,” Commander Madhwal said.

Indian Navy’s task groups deployed in the Arabian Sea have been physically investigating fishing vessels, and marine commandoes, in the past week, boarded vessels that looks suspicious.

In the last week of December, the Indian Navy created task groups with five warships, surveillance planes and UAV’s.

Indian Naval ships and aircraft remain mission deployed for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations.

A Navy spokesperson had said on January 3 that “in the last one-week, task groups deployed in the area have investigated large number of fishing vessel and boarded vessels”.

Indian Naval Maritime Patrol Aircraft, the Boeing P8I, and Predator UAVs are undertaking persistence surveillance over the area.

Indian-flagged merchant vessels plying in the area are being tracked. The Navy is also coordinating with Indian Coast Guard for maintaining enhanced surveillance within the Exclusive Economic Zone.

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