Indian Navy Intercepts Merchant Vessel After Attempted Hijacking; Rescues 21 Crew Members Including 15 Indians

In a quick operation in the North Arabian Sea on Friday, the Indian Navy’s elite marine commandos saved all 21 crew members—including 15 Indians—from a bulk carrier after they boarded it from a warship. This came after five to six armed pirates attempted to take control of the Liberian-flagged ship.

The MV Lila Norfolk sent a message on the UK Maritime Trade Operations portal stating that unknown armed personnel had boarded it on Thursday evening. In response, the Navy sent out a warship, helicopters, MQ9B Predator drones, and maritime patrol aircraft P-8I to assist the ship.

The cargo vessel was intercepted at 3:15 pm by the frontline warship INS Chennai, according to Indian Navy spokesman Commander Vivek Madhwal, and MARCOs commandos “sanitised” it. It has been discovered that since the pirates boarded the cargo ship last evening, every member of the crew has been hiding in a safe room on board.

“All 21 crew including 15 Indians onboard the vessel were safely evacuated from the citadel,” Madhwal stated.

“Marcos commandos’ sanitization process has verified the hijackers’ absence. The strong warning of naval warship interception by Indian Navy marine patrol aircraft most likely caused the pirates to abandon their attempt at hijacking,” he said. The official reports that the Indian ship INS Chennai is near MV Lila Norfolk and is assisting her in commencing her voyage to the next port of call while also offering assistance with the repair of the ship’s propulsion and power generation.

The Navy diverted INS Chennai from her anti-piracy patrol to aid the MV Lila Norfolk after learning of the attempted hijacking. Before the commandos entered the ship, it was constantly monitored by Predator MQ9B drones and maritime patrol aircraft P8I.

“The Indian Navy’s marine commandos present onboard the mission deployed warship boarded the merchant’s vessel and have carried out the sanitization operation,” Madhwal stated. Amidst the Israel-Hamas conflict, there is increasing concern over Houthi militants increasing their attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea, which led to the attempted hijacking.

R Hari Kumar, the chief admiral of the navy, gave orders to deal firmly with such maritime incidents.

The Navy had earlier said in a statement that it is acting quickly in response to the “developing situation” and that it has diverted INS Chennai to secure the MV Lila Norfolk in addition to deploying a maritime patrol aircraft.

“Responding swiftly to the developing situation, the Indian Navy launched a maritime patrol aircraft and diverted INS Chennai deployed for maritime security operations to assist the vessel,” it stated 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 “The Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring the safety of merchant shipping in the region along with international partners and friendly foreign countries,” the Navy said.

The UKMTO is a British military organization that tracks the movements of various vessels in strategic waterways. The cargo vessel belonged to Lila Global and the company’s CEO Steve Kunzer said the crew of Lila Norfolk had been successfully rescued by the Indian Navy ship INS Chennai.

“The vessel and crew are all safe. We want to thank the Agencies that assisted in their rescue, in particular the Indian Navy, Capt Rohit Bajpai, Director IFC-IOR, and the officials of DG Shipping,” he said in a statement.

“We also want to thank the professionalism of our crew who reacted safely and responsibly under the circumstances,” he said.

The Indian Navy’s IFC IOR (Information Fusion Centre  Indian Ocean Region) keeps track of the shipping traffic as well as other critical developments in the region. The fresh incident is among a series of such maritime incidents witnessed in the strategic waters in the last few weeks.

On December 23, a drone attacked the Liberian-flagged ship MV Chem Pluto, which was carrying 21 Indian crew members, off the west coast of India.

In addition to MV Chem Pluto, another commercial oil tanker headed towards India was targeted by what appeared to be a drone strike in the Southern Red Sea that same day. The ship’s crew consisted of twenty-five Indians.

In a different incident, pirates took control of the MV Ruen, a ship flying the Malta flag, on December 14.

On Wednesday, the Indian Navy declared that it is still keeping an eye on the state of maritime security in the Gulf of Aden, the North and Central Arabian Seas.

“Indian Naval ships and aircraft remain mission deployed for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations,” said the statement.

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

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

Source: PTI