Indian Navy Puts Off Fire At Ship Attacked By Houthi; Captain Thanks The Team

Following a missile strike by the Houthis in the Gulf of Eden, Captain Avinash Rawat, the captain of the MV Marlin Luanda, thanked the Indian Navy on Saturday for their assistance in putting out the fire on board. Rawat said, “Half of the world knows that yesterday we were struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden. Due to the attack, our vessel was on massive fire. I would really like to thank Indian warship INS Visakhapatnam…”

Captain Avinash had lost hope

“We had lost hope, but these (Indian Navy) guys have done a tremendous (firefighting) job. They really went out of the way to help us out,” he added. There were one Bangladeshi and twenty-two Indians on the commercial ship’s crew.

6 hours of firefighting

Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said, “After six hours of battling the fire along with the crew of MV Marlin Luanda, the Indian Naval fire fighting team has successfully brought the fire under control.” Madhwal stated that the team is overseeing the situation to eliminate potential for ‘re-ignition.’

The UK-based Oceonix Services oil tanker MV Marlin Luanda received a distress signal on Saturday from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Gulf of Aden, following their missile strike on the vessel on Friday. The Indian missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam responded to the warning. This episode represents the most recent in a series of assaults on commercial ships in the surrounding area, which includes parts of the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea.

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INS Visakhapatnam deployed NBCD

“Based on a request from MV Marlin Luanda, INS Visakhapatnam has deployed its NBCD (nuclear biological chemical defence and damage control) team along with firefighting equipment to render assistance to the crew towards augmenting firefighting efforts on board the distressed MV,” the Indian Navy said in a statement on Saturday.

A cargo ship carrying 22 crew members, including nine Indians, was seized by INS Visakhapatnam last week. The ship was flying the flag of Marshall Islands when it was attacked by a drone in the Gulf of Aden. In the North Arabian Sea on January 5, the Navy prevented the MV Lila Norfolk, flying the flag of Liberia, from being hijacked, saving all of the crew members.