Indian Navy Neutralizes Pirates in Gulf of Aden

On September 15, while on an anti piracy escort mission in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Naval Ship Delhi successfully neutralized another pirate boat, the third in four days, while escorting Merchant Vessels.

Deployed in the Gulf of Aden since mid July 2010, INS Delhi was escorting 06 merchant vessels with a cumulative strength of 40 Indians amongst the 147 crew on board the six ships. At about 1000h on September 15 in a position 108km South of the Yemeni Coast, in the IRTC (International Recommended Transit Corridor), a dhow was detected approaching the formation. The dhow was intercepted and boarded by a team of Marine Commandos. A cache of arms including a 7.62 mm rifle, 06 Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and ammunition was found on board the dhow. The dhow was disarmed. The team from INS Delhi had thus successfully mitigated piracy threats in the Gulf of Aden. It is indeed notable that this was the fourth such action, taken by INS Delhi, three being in the last four days. It may be recalled that INS Delhi had, earlier, similarly disarmed boats on September 5th, 12th and 13th.

Since the Indian Navy started its anti-piracy operations in Oct 2008 this is the 18th piracy attack that has been prevented. The Indian Navy continues to ensure safety of ships and their crew irrespective of their nationality, in keeping with true Naval traditions.