Indian Navy goes on the offensive against sea pirates

New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) In a first major offensive to
neutralise the threat of sea piracy off Somalia coast, the
Indian Navy has sunk a 'mother ship' of a group of pirates
during a fierce battle in the Gulf of Aden.

The pro-active operation from the Navy warship INS Tabar
comes a week after it saved two merchant vessels from sea
pirates 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, had
successfully sorted out the pirates Tuesday evening 285
nautical miles south west off Salalah in Oman.

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 learned.

"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.

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 in the wake of
Japanese ship M V Stolt Valor with 18 Indian crew members
being hijacked from Gulf of Aden by Somalian pirates on
September 15.

After being held in captivity for over two months, the
vessel and the crew were released by the pirates on November
16 after the Japanese shipping company reportedly paid a huge
ransom.