Hijacking bid foiled, Navy tries to track down pirates, probes vessels in Arabian Sea

“It is suspected that forceful warnings by the Indian Naval aircraft to the vessel and likely interception by IN (Indian Navy) warship, probably compelled the pirates to escape during the night hours,” the Navy said in a statement on Saturday.

Giving details of the operation, it said that after the merchant vessel sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) portal — indicating that five-six unknown armed personnel had boarded it – the Navy responded immediately.

The merchant vessel was kept under continuous surveillance by a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, Predator MQ9B UAVs and integral helos (helicopters on a ship), said the statement, adding that INS Chennai, which was on anti-piracy patrolling duty in the region, intercepted the ship.

Sanitisation by the Indian Navy’s marine commandos confirmed absence of hijackers on board the vessel, MV Lila Norfolk. pic.twitter.com/JTrLTRIWTM

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) January 5, 2024

A MARCOS team on the warship then boarded the merchant vessel and carried out thorough “sanitisation” of the upper decks, machinery compartments and living spaces, it said.

The MV Lila Norfolk crew is currently engaged in restoring propulsion, power supply and steering gear. “Thereafter, MV Lila Norfolk will recommence her passage to her destination under escort of the Indian naval warship,” the Navy statement said.

According to sources, while the Navy has carried out several such anti-piracy operations earlier, this was a major one in recent times.

The Navy began anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden in 2008 and has increased its deployments in the Arabian Sea, leading to a reduction in piracy incidents in the region.

In 2011, four pirate mother ships and 120 pirates were caught in the eastern Arabian Sea, while 73 fishermen and crew were rescued in the operations. While there was a decline in such incidents in 2013-14, it increased in 2017, in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast. A few hijackings were also reported by 2020.

The Navy escorted 413 Indian-flagged ships and 2,041 foreign ships between 2011-2018.

Friday’s incident was the latest in a series of recent maritime incidents in the Arabian Sea. In December, the Indian Navy, responding to a piracy incident, had assisted a Malta-flagged vessel, MV Ruen, in the Arabian Sea, around 700 nautical miles from the Indian coast.

On December 23, a Liberia-flagged merchant vessel, MV Chem Pluto, carrying a crew of 22, of which 21 were Indians, came under a drone attack around 220 nautical miles southwest of Porbandar, while it was on its way to New Mangalore.

The attacks, the Navy said, indicated a shift in maritime incidents closer to the Indian exclusive economic zone.

A day after the MV Chem Pluto incident, a Gabon-flagged commercial oil tanker, MV Sai Baba, on its way to India with 25 Indian crew members, also came under a drone attack in the southern Red Sea, along with another Norwegian-flagged ship.

In the wake of these incidents, the Navy increased maritime security and surveillance in the central and north Arabian Sea by deploying frontline destroyers, frigates as well as long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

Five warships – INS Kochi, INS Mormugao, INS Kolkata, INS Chennai and a Talwar Class frigate – have been deployed in the Arabian Sea off the Gulf of Aden.

Along with the warships, P8I maritime patrol aircraft, MQ-9B Predator drones and Dornier aircraft have been carrying out enhanced surveillance of the region.

Earlier this year, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar had said the Navy closely monitors trends and patterns of threats and challenges from traditional as well as non-traditional sources. He said non-traditional security threats – like maritime terrorism, piracy, robbery, human, arms, drugs trafficking — have added a new paradigm to the security scenario in recent years.