Indian Navy intercepts hijacking of merchant vessel in Arabian Sea

Representational Pic/File/Atul Kamble

Indian Navy's marine commandos on Friday boarded a hijacked Liberian-flagged commercial bulk carrier in the North Arabian Sea and are undertaking a sanitisation operation, Navy officials said.

The Navy deployed a warship, maritime patrol aircraft P-8I and long-range Predator MQ9B drone in response to the hijacking of commercial vessel MV Lila Norfolk that is understood to have over a dozen Indian crew members.

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Navy officials said frontline warship INS Chennai was diverted from her anti-piracy patrol and it intercepted the hijacked vessel at 3:15 pm in the North Arabian Sea.

The vessel was kept under continuous surveillance using maritime patrol aircraft P8I and Predator MQ9B drones, the officials said.

"The Indian Navy's marine commandos present onboard the mission deployed warship boarded the merchant vessel and have commenced the sanitisation operation," said an official.

MV Lila Norfolk sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) portal indicating that five to six unknown armed personnel boarded the vessel on Thursday evening.

Earlier, the Navy said the overall situation is being "closely monitored" in coordination with other maritime agencies in the region.

The hijacking incident comes amid growing concerns over Houthi militants stepping up attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Navy said it responded swiftly to the "developing situation" and deployed a maritime patrol aircraft and diverted INS Chennai for security of MV Lila Norfolk.

"Responding swiftly to the developing situation, Indian Navy launched a maritime patrol aircraft and has diverted INS Chennai deployed for maritime security operations to assist the vessel," it said in a statement.

Though there is no clarity from the Navy on the nationality of the crew, it is learnt that over a dozen of them are Indians.

"The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries," the Navy said.

The UKMTO is a British military organisation that tracks movements of various vessels in strategic waterways.

The fresh incident is among a series of such maritime incidents witnessed in the strategic waters in the last few weeks.

Liberian-flagged vessel MV Chem Pluto, with 21 Indian crew members, was the target of a drone attack off India's west coast on December 23.

Besides MV Chem Pluto, another commercial oil tanker that was on the way to India came under a suspected drone strike in the Southern Red Sea on the same day. The vessel had a team of 25 Indian crew.

In another incident, Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen was hijacked on December 14 by pirates.

The Indian Navy on Wednesday said it continues to monitor the maritime security situation in the North and Central Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden.

"Indian Naval ships and aircraft remain mission deployed for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations," it said.

"In the last one week, Indian Naval Task Groups deployed in the area have investigated large number of fishing vessels and boarded vessels of interest," it added.

The task groups comprised warships, surveillance planes and remotely-piloted aircraft.

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