Navy, Coast Guard thwart another attack by Somali pirates

Indian Navy and Coast Guard have thwarted an attack by Somali pirates on a foreign merchant vessel with Chinese crew members in the Arabian sea, a senior official said today.

"In a major operation, a foreign merchant vessel with Chinese crew members on board was saved from an attack by sea brigands yesterday," the Coast Guard official said without divulging further details.

 The navy and Coast Guard have prevented a number of attacks by Somalians in the past few months and apprehended over a 100 pirates, mostly Somalians, and handed them over to Mumbai police.

The pirates are lodged in various jails across the city.

On March 26, the navy had apprehended 16 sea brigands and rescued 16 crew members after battling with the Somalian pirates West off the Lakshadweep Islands.

On March 13, the Indian Navy foiled a pirates' attack and apprehended a pirate mother ship rescuing 13 crew members and caught 61 Somali sea brigands about 600 nautical miles off the western coast in the Arabian Sea.