Navy arrests pirates in Gulf of Aden

An Indian Navy warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden saved an Ethiopian merchant vessel, arrested 23 sea bandits and recovered a large quantity of arms during an anti-piracy mission on Saturday morning. The INS Mysore, a Delhiclass destroyer, responded to a distress call by the MV Gibe and launched its Marine Commandoes to search and seize two pirate boats that were attacking the merchant vessel. This comes less than a month after the Navy sunk a pirate ‘mother vessel’ in the Gulf of Aden that later turned out to be a Thai trawler that had been commandeered by Somali pirates.

Giving details on Saturday’s action, a Navy spokesperson said that the INS Mysore picked up a distress call from the Ethiopian vessel at 11 am that it was under small arms fire from two boats that were closing in on it. The MV Gibe also said it was retaliating with small arms it has onboard.

The Indian warship, 13 nautical miles away, immediately launched the armed helicopter it had on board. “On sighting the helicopter and Mysore, the boats disengaged from MV Gibe and attempted to escape. Mysore closed in the vessels and ordered them to stop,” a Navy spokesperson said. The INS Mysore reached the spot and launched its Marine Commandoes on inflatable armed rafts to board the pirate boats. All 23 personnel on board — 12 Somali and 11 Yemeni — surrendered, and the Navy recovered arms including seven AK 47s and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The pirates will be taken to Djibouti where they will be tried according to international law.