A week after saving two merchant vessels from sea pirates, the Indian Navy has sunk a pirate 'mother ship' during a fierce battle in the Gulf of Aden near the Horn of Africa.
NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy has struck a major blow against the pirates infesting the Gulf of Aden, destroying a “mother ship”, a larger vessel used by them as a mobile base to launch attacks on merchant vessels.
The INS Tabar, deployed to escort Indian merchant ships through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, carried out the operation on Tuesday evening some 285 nautical miles southwest of Salalah in Oman. This is the second success for the Tabar, which successfully thwarted two piracy attempts on November 11.
An Indian navy spokesman said the Tabar encountered a pirate vessel, which looked like the ‘mother vessel’ mentioned in various piracy bulletins, with two speed boats in tow on November 18 evening. When the Tabar closed with the vessel and asked it to stop, the pirates threatened to blow up the naval warship.
The navy spotted pirates roaming the upper deck with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers and the vessel continued its threats before firing on the Tabar, the spokesman said.
When the Tabar returned fire, a blaze broke out on the pirate ship and explosions were heard, possibly stored ammunition blowing up, the navy said. Two speed boats were spotted escaping and the Tabar gave chase. One boat escaped in the darkness while the other was found abandoned later, the navy said.
Besides, thwarting the two hijacking attempts on November 11, when a helicopter gunship from the Tabar attacked and chased away pirates attempting to board merchant vessels, the Tabar has escorted about 35 ships, including a number of foreign vessels to safety during their transit through the Gulf of Aden.
India is the ninth navy to deploy in the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest waterways in the world. About one-sixth of the world’s sailors are Indians, and over 25 Indian flag ships sail through the Gulf of Aden. But most of the Indian sailors are staff the foreign vessels.
The pirates, mostly Somalians, have been expanding their operational capabilities and have shaken the global seafaring community with their latest audacity — hijacking the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star carrying over $100 million worth of crude oil. From the safety of the Horn of Africa, the pirates have been expanding their reach further into the Gulf of Aden and to Kenyan waters.
Seventeen vessels remain in the hands of pirates along with more than 300 crew members, including a Ukrainian ship loaded with weapons and the Sirius Star. The Saudi supertanker became the biggest ship ever hijacked on Saturday when Somali pirates seized it 450 miles southeast of Mombasa. It was believed to be anchored near Eyl, a former Somali fishing village that is now a well-defended pirate base. It has a full load of 2 million barrels of oil and 25 crew members. Asked about reports that a ransom had been demanded, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal said Wednesday that the owners of the tanker “are negotiating on the issue”.
The Gulf of Aden connects to the Red Sea, which in turn is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. The route is thousands of kilometers and many days shorter than going around the Cape of Good Hope off the southern tip of Africa.
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