Navy deploys warship, surveillance aircraft after hijacking of merchant vessel in Arabian Sea

 The hijacking comes amid growing concerns over Houthi militants stepping up attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

PTI, New Delhi, Jan 5, 2023 :  The Indian Navy deployed a warship and a maritime patrol aircraft in the Arabian Sea following hijacking of a Liberian-flagged merchant vessel that is understood to have over a dozen Indian crew members.

     

The bulk-carrier MV Lila Norfolk sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) portal indicating that five to six unknown armed personnel boarded the vessel on Thursday evening, the Indian Navy said.

     

It said the overall situation is being "closely monitored" in coordination with other maritime agencies in the region.

     

The hijacking comes amid growing concerns over Houthi militants stepping up attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

     

The Navy said it responded swiftly to the "developing situation" and deployed a maritime patrol aircraft and diverted frontline warship INS Chennai for security of MV Lila Norfolk.

     

"Responding swiftly to the developing situation, the Indian Navy launched a maritime patrol aircraft and has diverted INS Chennai deployed for maritime security operations to assist the vessel," it said in a statement.

     

"The aircraft overflew the vessel early Friday morning and established contact with the vessel, ascertaining the safety of the crew," it said.

     

Though there is no clarity from the Navy on the nationality of the crew, it is learnt that over a dozen of them are Indians.

The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries.

"Naval aircraft continues to monitor movement and INS Chennai is closing the vessel to render assistance," the Navy said.

The UKMTO is a British military organisation that tracks movements of various vessels in strategic waterways.

The fresh incident is among a series of such maritime incidents witnessed in the strategic waters in the last few weeks.

Liberian-flagged vessel MV Chem Pluto, with 21 Indian crew members, was the target of a drone attack off India's west coast on December 23.

Besides MV Chem Pluto, another commercial oil tanker that was on the way to India came under a suspected drone strike in the Southern Red Sea on the same day. The vessel had a team of 25 Indian crew.

In another incident, Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen was hijacked on December 14 by pirates.

The Indian Navy on Wednesday said it continues to monitor the maritime security situation in the North and Central Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden.

"Indian Naval ships and aircraft remain mission deployed for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations," it said.

"In the last one week, Indian Naval Task Groups deployed in the area have investigated large number of fishing vessels and boarded vessels of interest," it added.

The task groups comprised warships, surveillance planes and remotely-piloted aircraft.