Special Correspondent
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 AT 5:11 PM
Tags: pirate
Rescued - the Indian merchant vessel M V Jag Arnav
MUMBAI: In a swift operation off the Somalian coast, an Indian Navy warship rescued an Indian merchant vessel, the Jag Arnav, from being hijacked by Somalian pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday.The action is seen as a strong signal to the heavily armed Somalian pirates who have menaced merchant shipping in the area for the past several months, and once again established the Indian Navy's 'blue water' capabilities.Reports reaching the Mumbai-headquartered Western Naval Command (WNC), the sword arm of the Indian Navy, said that the attack took place at 10.30 am, when the ship was 60 nautical miles east of Aden. The alarm signals sent out by the merchant ship was picked up by INS Tabar patrolling in the vicinity.Defence Ministry sources said that an armed helicopter with marine commandos (popularly known as marcos) on board was launched from the INS Tabar to intervene and prevent the pirates from boarding and hijacking the vessel."The naval helicopter fired on the pirates, who then fled from the scene. INS Tabar thereafter closed in on the Indian merchant ship and escorted her to safety. Timely intervention by the Indian naval ship thereby prevented another attack of piracy in the Gulf of Aden," the sources said.The vessel, MV Jag Arnav, a 38,265 tonnes bulk carrier is owned by the Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd. The ship had transited the Suez Canal a few days ago and was eastward bound in the Gulf of Aden when she came under attack from the pirates.The Indian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrolling in the Gulf of Aden since October 23 as a sizeable portion of our country's trade flows through the Gulf of Aden and there has been a quantum increase in the number of piracy attacks in this region over the last few months. "These patrols are carried out in coordination with the ministry of shipping and are intended to protect Indian merchant vessels from being attacked by pirates and also to instill confidence in our large seafaring community," the sources added. Recently rattled by the frequent hijacking of ships by armed Somalian gunmen and pirates off the Somalia coast, the shipping industry has made crisis calls to London-based International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and United Nations in New York. The shipping industry worldwide has called for real and immediate action against these brazen acts of piracy, kidnapping and armed robbery, carried out with increasing frequency against ships in the Gulf of Aden, by pirates based in Somalia.The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and International Shipping Federation (ISF) made the appeal in the wake of the hijacking of MT Stolt Valor, a large merchant vessel that was passing off Somalian coast. The ship has over a dozen Indian seamen on board, though according to latest reports, they are all safe.Nearly 40 hijackings have occurred in the Gulf of Aden so far this year, with 133 kidnapped seafarers still being held hostage. The attacks on merchant ships have intensified from weekly to daily, to an estimated three happening every hour now.The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) at Kuala Lumpur, the lead recording body for piracy, estimates that over 1,200 Somalis and at least six major groups are involved. Since the recent incidents of hijacking where Indian ships or Indian crew have been targeted, the Mumbai-based Directorate General of Shipping is in touch with the maritime officials across the world.Following recent attacks, the Indian Navy has been deployed to provide safety to the merchant fleet. The Somalian piracy issue has hottted up so much that The Round Table of International Shipping Associations - BIMCO, Intercargo, International Chamber of Shipping/International Shipping Federation and INTERTANKO, alongwith global trade union federations and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITWF) - has requested to the IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos, to use his organisation's influence to ensure UN backing for increased naval force in order to protect the lives of seafarers and passengers as well as ships and cargos.
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