India has decided to deploy a naval warship for patrolling the Gulf of Aden in response to the hijack of a Japanese merchant vessel with 18 Indian crew members on board.
But govt silent on rescue of hijacked ship crew
NEW DELHI: India has decided to deploy a naval warship, with helicopters and marine commandos on board, for patrolling the strategic Gulf of Aden, the crowded sealane between Yemen to Somalia. The decision comes in response to the hijack of a Japanese merchant vessel with 18 Indian crew members on board.
But the government was non-committal if a commando operation would be carried out to free the 18 Indian passengers being held aboard mv Stolt Valor. On Tuesday the hijackers had given an ultimatum of 48 hours for the payment of ransom of $2.5 million for the release of the sailors.
Agitated families of the sailors have been demanding the government to act. Seema Goyal wife of the ship’s captain Prabhat Kumar Goyal had on Tuesday received a phone call from one of the crew members saying the pirates have demanded $2.5 million and set a deadline of 48 hours to pay up. The ship was taken over by the pirates on September 15.
Ministry of defence sources said the ministry of external affairs was in touch with the transitional federal government of Somalia and other players in the region over the crisis.
Somalian pirates have been having an almost free run in the Horn of Africa, having hijacked almost two-dozen ships this year alone. A senior source in the shipping industry told DNA that success of armed action was not easy, and “we almost always end up paying them.”
An MoD spokesman said: “The government has approved deployment of Indian naval warships in the Gulf of Aden to patrol the normal route followed by Indian flag ships during passage between Salalah, Oman, and Aden, Yemen.”
He said the patrol would be carried out in coordination with the director general of shipping “who will keep Indian flag vessels informed” and “in case they want to travel” with the naval ship escort it would be provided. “The patrolling is commencing immediately,” he said.
The warship, which is in the region, has helicopters and marine commandos on board, the spokesman said. “The presence of an Indian naval ship in this area will be significant as Gulf of Aden is a major strategic choking point in the Indian Ocean region” providing access to Suez Canal through which over 10 per cent of world’s seaborne petroleum travels, besides a huge amount of other cargo.
“The presence of Indian naval ship in the area will help protect our seaborne trade and instill confidence to sea faring community as well as function as a deterrent against pirates,” the spokesman said.
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