Indian Navy sinks a pirate vessel, big blow for the brigands

New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) An Indian naval frigate sunk a
pirate vessel after repulsing an attack in the Gulf of Aden in
a significant blow to the sea brigands at the heart of their
operations in a third successive strike in as many weeks.

The success for INS Tabar to neutralise rising sea
piracy off Somalia came in the first major offensive from
among dozens of warships from several countries protecting
shipping lanes in the area when it destroyed the 'mother ship'
of a group of pirates after a fierce battle Tuesday.

The pro-active operation from the Indian Navy comes a
week after it saved two merchant vessels--one from India and
other from Saudi Arabia-- from being hijacked by sea pirates
on Nov.11 in the Gulf of Aden near the Horn of Africa.

The Navy said the stealth frigate, currently deployed
there for anti-piracy surveillance and patrol operations,
successfully took on the pirates Tuesday evening, 285 nautical
miles south west off Salalah in Oman. The frigate was deployed
for the anti-piracy mission since November 2.

INS Tabar encountered the pirates' mother ship with two
speed boats in tow and there were about 20 pirates on board
the ship, it is learnt. Pirates use mother ships, generally
hijacked trawlers, to tow speedboats from which they launch
their attacks. They are also loaded with food, diesel and
water.

"This pirate vessel was similar in description to the
'Mother Vessel' mentioned in various piracy bulletins. INS
Tabar closed in on the vessel and asked her to stop for
investigation," a Navy spokesperson said here.

But the pirates threatened to blow up the warship if
it sailed closer to their mother ship, despite repeated calls
from INS Tabar to stop and let the Navy personnel to inspect
the ship, he said.

The Navy noticed that pirates were roaming on the upper
deck of the vessel with guns and rocket propelled grenade
launchers in hand, and they continued the threats and
subsequently fired upon INS Tabar.

In their retaliatory action in "self-defence," INS Tabar
opened fire on the mother vessel of the pirates. "As a result
of INS Tabar's guns booming, fire broke out on the pirate
vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding
ammunition that was stored on the vessel," he said.

Almost simultaneously, Indian Navy said, two speed boats
were observed breaking off to escape. The ship chased the
first boat, which was later found abandoned. The other boat
made good its escape into darkness, he added.

While some of the pirates could have escaped in the speed
boats, a few on board the destroyed mother ship perished, he
said.

The incident came as shipping groups reported a new surge
in hijackings off Somalia and the International Maritime
Bureau said pirates based in the lawless African nation were
now "out of control".

INS Tabar was deployed on anti-piracy mission in the Gulf
of Aden since November 2. Western Naval Command has been
controlling the anti-piracy operation since October 23 when
the government ordered the Navy to deploy a warship in Gulf of
Aden with the mandate to save Indian merchant vessels
distressed by pirates.

Since deployment, INS Tabar has successfully escorted 35
ships, including a number of foreign-flagged vessels on
receiving their request, safely during their transit through
pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden.

It also threw back pirates, who attempted to hijack an
Indian and a Saudi vessels on November 11 and accompanied the
two merchant ships to safety.

The Indian action against pirates comes days after the
release after the Japanese ship M V Stolt Valor with 18 Indian
crew members hijacked from Gulf of Aden by Somalian pirates on
September 15.