Indian Navy warship foils hijack attempt off Aden

MUMBAI: An Indian naval warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden successfully foiled an attempt by pirates to hijack an Indian merchant vessel on Tuesday morning.

According to the Indian Navy, at around 10.30 am on Tuesday, the Indian vessel MV Jag Arnav sent an SOS message about a hijacking attempt on it, around 60 nautical miles off east of Aden.

The alarm message was picked up by an unidentified Indian Navy warship patrolling the area and it decided to send a rescue mission.

An armed helicopter with marine commandos took off from the naval ship for the mission.

Reaching there shortly, the helicopter attacked the pirates by firing on them, forcing them to abort the hijack attempt and escape from there.

The ship was soon joined by the Indian Navy warship, which then escorted MV Jag Arnav to safety.

Timely intervention by the Indian Navy warship prevented yet another hijacking incident in the pirate-infested seas off the northern African coast, the navy said.