Indian Navy sinks pirate vessel off Somali coast

Zeenews Bureau Gulf of Aden, Nov 19:

Within days of preventing the hijack of an Indian merchant vessel, Indian Navy’s warship INS Tabar, after exchange of fire, sank a pirate vessel off the Somali coast. According to reports, the Indian Navy acted definitively after a group of pirate vessels tried to encircle the Indian warship with the motive to attack it. After a brief exchange of light fire, the warship hit the pirate vessel leading to its sinking. The incident happened at around 9.45 pm Tuesday night. No casualities were reported from the Indian side. The Indian warship, the INS Tabar, was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in October after a spike in piracy and hijackings off the coast of Somalia, which is caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has had no functioning government since 1991. It is the third of the Talwar-class frigates of the Indian Navy. INS Tabar is the first vessel in the Talwar class to be armed with supersonic BrahMos (PJ-10) Anti-ship cruise missiles. Meanwhile, another ship has been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden waters. The ship was flying a Hong Kong flag but is operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. The status of the crew or its cargo remains unknown. NATO has also expressed concerns about the growing incidences of piracy in the crucial shipping lane along the Gulf of Aden. The worldwide concern was triggered after yesterday’s hijack of an Saudi oil tanker – considered of the biggest- by pirates in the same region. The hijacking, in fact led to a one dollar rise in the crude oil prices. This is the second successful strike by the Indian Navy within a week. It may be noted that last Tuesday the Indian warship foiled an attempt by the pirates to hijack an Indian and a Saudi ship off the Somalian coast. The incident happened when the pirates on power-boats attacked Saudi Arabia-registered merchant vessel "MV Timaha," and half an hour later a second group tried to board a 38,000-tonne bulk carrier owned by India's Great Eastern Shipping Co INS Tabar patrolling the area responded to a distress call by "MV Timaha" and sent an attack helicopter carrying commandos which opened fire while the pirates were making repeated attempts to board the Saudi ship This year has seen a spurt in the pirates’ activities off the Somalian coast and till now there have been nearly 90 such attacks. In the last 12 days itself they have hijacked seven ships in the Gulf of Aden, the latest being an Iranian cargo vessel
Your comment(s) on this article
The Indian Navy is going great guns! We are proud of our boys -K.Venugopal - Mumbai
BRAVO ZULU Indian NavyI congratulate to all sailors/ officers/ EXO and the commanding Officer of INS TabarDespite of all hardship which evry one is suffering On Board,the job carried out is commendableThat is why our forces are loved by each and every IndianWe are proud of you -vasant Raut - Mumbai
Idiot politicians learn from the efficiency of our armed forces and do something for the country Shame on you and congrats to our great navy -Ashvini - Bangalore
Welldone Hats off the men who involved in the action goodluck to all our naval personal -KAMATH - VAPI