Indian Navy rescues second hijacked Iranian fishing vessel in Arabian sea

The Indian Navy announced on Tuesday that its offshore patrol vessel, INS Sumitra, successfully rescued an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel (FV) hijacked by armed pirates off the Somali coast. This marks the second such rescue operation by INS Sumitra in the last 24 hours in the Arabian Sea, where the security situation has deteriorated due to the resurgence of piracy and attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The Iranian fishing vessel, FV Al Naeemi, was carrying a crew of 19 Pakistani nationals. The navy reported that INS Sumitra intercepted the vessel, carried out a successful anti-piracy operation, and compelled the safe release of the crew through effective deployment of its integral helicopter and boats.

“INS Sumitra, having thwarted the piracy attempt on FV Iman, carried out yet another successful anti-piracy operation off the east coast of Somalia, rescuing FV Al Naeemi and her crew of 19 Pakistani nationals from 11 Somali pirates,” the navy said in a statement.

“INS Sumitra was again pressed into action to locate and intercept another Iranian-flagged FV Al Naeemi, which had been boarded by pirates and her crew taken hostage. Responding swiftly, Sumitra intercepted the vessel on January 29 evening and through coercive posturing and effective deployment of her integral helicopter and boats compelled the safe release of the crew and the vessel,” the statement said.

“INS Sumitra, over the course of less than 36 hours (time since the first distress call from FV Iman), through swift, persistent and relentless efforts has rescued two hijacked fishing vessels along with 36 crew members in the southern Arabian Sea, approximately 850 nautical miles west of Kochi, and prevented the misuse of these fishing vessels as mother ships for further acts of piracy on merchant vessels,” the navy added.