Yemen Monitor/News Room
The Indian Navy said it freed an Iranian fishing vessel hijacked by nine armed pirates in the Arabian Sea on Friday and rescued its crew unharmed.
The fishing vessel “Al-Kambar 786” was southwest of the Yemeni island of Socotra on March 28 when pirates reportedly boarded it, according to a navy statement late Friday.
The navy said the ships INS Sumedha and INS Trishul intercepted the vessel, leading to “more than 12 hours of intensive coercive tactical measures” that forced the pirates to surrender.
It said the crew of 23 Pakistani nationals were safe.
“Specialist teams of the Indian Navy are currently carrying out comprehensive checks for sanitization and seaworthiness of the fishing vessel in order to escort it to a safe area to resume normal fishing activities,” the statement said.
The Indian Navy said last week that India has responded to 18 incidents, deployed 21 ships and 5,000 personnel on rotation, boarded and searched over 1,000 ships. Its unprecedented presence has led to the deployment of more than a dozen warships on some days.
Taking advantage of the focus of Western forces on protecting ships from attacks by Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea, pirates have carried out or attempted more than 20 hijackings since November, driving up insurance and security costs and exacerbating a global shipping crisis.
