Indian Navy rescues 21 crew members from missile-hit merchant ship in Gulf of Aden

Ajay Banerjee

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New Delhi, March 7

The Indian Navy has rescued 21 crew members, including an Indian national, who were on board a missile-hit merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

The merchant vessel, a Barbados-flagged bulk carrier MV True Confidence, was reportedly hit by a drone/missile, approximately 90 km South West of Aden, on Wednesday, resulting in fire on board and critical injuries to some of the crew members, forcing the crew to abandon the ship.

The Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata, deployed for maritime security operations, arrived at the scene of action at 4: 45 pm on Wednesday and rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national. A life raft was deployed from helicopter that had been launched from the deck of INS Kolkatta. Critical medical aid was provided to the injured crew by the ship’s medical team.

The rescued crew, including the critically injured personnel, have been evacuated to Djibouti—on Africa’s eastern coast—late on Wednesday.

Early on Tuesday, the Indian Navy saved a Liberian-flagged merchant vessel and its 23 crew members, including 13 Indian nationals, after it came under attack in the Gulf of Aden.

The INS Kolkata had bene deployed in that mission, too.

Based on the request of the merchant ship, the ship was escorted from the scene of incident in westerly direction to the territorial waters of Djibouti.

In the early hours of March 5, a specialist firefighting team of 12 Indian Navy personnel embarked the merchant vessel and provided assistance in extinguishing the residual fire. Additionally, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team also embarked the MV for risk assessment.

The crew of 23 personnel, including 13 Indian nationals are safe and the vessel is proceeding to her next destination, the Navy said.

Since December last year, the Indian Navy, has deployed over a dozen assets in the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. The deployment is not part of the US-led alliance in the region.