Hijack drama in Arabian Sea, Indian Navy secures vessel, all 21 on board

Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, January 5

Elite marine commandos of the Indian Navy on Friday evening secured a merchant vessel, MV Lila Norfolk, and rescued all 21 crew members, including 15 Indians, who had been hiding in a strongroom of the ship since yesterday after pirates go on board.

Marine commandos sanitise ship

• MV Lila Norfolk sends SOS claiming 5-6 armed men are on board
• Indian Navy aircraft establishes contact with it early on Friday
• INS Chennai intercepts it at 3.15 pm; commandos get on board, find hijackers missing

On Thursday, the pirates boarded the ship in the Arabian Sea, 850 km east of Africa’s Somalian coast. An operation had been on mid-sea since the early hours of Friday.

“The Indian Navy Marine Commandos present on warship INS Chennai boarded MV Lila Norfolk and have ‘sanitised’ the vessel and confirmed absence of the hijackers,” Navy Spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said on Friday evening.

The attempt by pirates to hijack the vessel was apparently abandoned following forceful warning by the Indian Navy maritime patrol aircraft and interception by Indian Naval warship, INS Chennai, Commander Madhwal added.

INS Chennai is still in vicinity of MV Lila Norfolk, a 1,70,000 tonne bulk carrier registered in Liberia, and rendering support to restore its power generation and propulsion for voyage to next port of call.

The merchant vessel was sailing from Porto Do Acu in Brazil to Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Bahrain when pirates got on board in an apparent hijack bid.

The UK Maritime Trade Organisation (UKMTO) said the crew locked themselves inside a strong room on board the ship soon after the pirates got on to the vessel mid-sea.

The vessel’s crew on Thursday sent a message to the UKMTO indicating five to six armed personnel had boarded it. An Indian Navy Maritime Patrol Aircraft, the Predator MQ9B, was given the coordinates of the besieged vessel and it maintained surveillance.

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

INS Chennai, which 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 a helicopter, intercepted MV Lila Norfolk around 3.15 pm today.

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

In the last week of December, the Navy created task groups with five warships, surveillance planes and UAVs. Naval ships and aircraft remain mission deployed for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations.

Navy spokesperson had on January 3 aid: “In the last one week, task groups deployed in the area have investigated a large number of fishing vessel and boarded vessels.”

An Indian Naval maritime Patrol Aircraft, Boeing P8I, and the Predator UAVs were undertaking persistence surveillance over the area.

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