Indian Navy foils another piracy attempt
November 12th, 2010 - 10:08 pm ICT by IANSMumbai, Nov 12 (IANS) Indian Navy ships INS Veer and INS Delhi and marine commandos have foiled a piracy attempt on a merchant vessel in the Arabian Sea, an official said Friday.
“At about 6 a.m. Nov 11, about 450 nautical miles west of Mumbai, merchant ship MV BBC Orinoco with a crew of 14 (five Ukrainian and nine Filipinos) reported being attacked by pirates,” a defence spokesperson said.
“The crew locked themselves in the ship’s engine room and the steering compartment and communicated with their agents, UK MTO Dubai via email,” he added.
Dubai, then, intimated the Indian Navy for assistance.
“On receipt of this information, the Indian Navy promptly detached one of its missile corvettes, INS Veer, to intercept the distressed vessel and also sailed a capital ship, INS Delhi with a team of Marine Commandos (MARCOS) embarked,” the spokesperson said.
One of the navy’s long range maritime patrol aircraft was also deployed for aerial surveillance.
The Indian Coast Guard, too, also responded.
The naval forces, which arrived at the scene at daybreak, instantly took steps to rescue the crew.
“MARCOS slithered onto the merchant ship from a Sea King helicopter and took the crew, who were locked in compartments, to safety, while the helicopter provided airborne fire support,” the spokesperson said.
MV BBC Orinoco is a general cargo carrier registered in the twin Caribbean Sea island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
- Intercepted suspect ship may have been hijacked: Officials (Lead, With images) - Aug 15, 2011
- Navy thwarts pirate attack on two cargo ships - Sep 26, 2011
- Indian warship thwarts pirate attack on Greek vessel - Jul 19, 2011
- 'Minor damage to Indian warship after Pakistani vessel brushed past' - Jun 24, 2011
- Efforts on to douse fire in cargo ship off Mumbai, no casualties - Sep 10, 2012
- Indian Navy foils another piracy attempt in Gulf of Aden - Sep 06, 2010
- Indian Navy abandons escort of freed vessel (Lead) - Jun 16, 2011
- Ship unresponsive, Indian Navy calls off escort (Second Lead) - Jun 16, 2011
- India, Mauritius to join hands to combat piracy: Patil - Apr 25, 2011
- 30 rescued from sinking cargo ship off Mumbai (Second Lead) - Aug 04, 2011
- Coast Guard plane chases pirates away off Lakshadweep - Jan 28, 2011
- Time to frame rules to protect our fisherfolk (Comment) - Jul 23, 2012
- Indian Navy foils pirate attack on Chinese vessel - May 06, 2011
- Indian Govt. mulling idea of having armed guards on merchant ships - Mar 15, 2011
- Somali pirates attack and board UK-flagged ship in failed hijack attempt - Jan 04, 2011
Tags: aerial surveillance, airborne fire, antigua and barbuda, arabian sea, capital ship, cargo carrier, caribbean sea, defence spokesperson, distressed vessel, fire support, general cargo, indian navy, island nation, maritime patrol aircraft, merchant ship, merchant vessel, navy ships, orinoco, sea island, sea king helicopter