NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy has once again responded to a piracy attack on a merchant vessel, Bangladesh-flagged MV Abdullah, but could not intervene because the crew had been taken hostage by the armed pirates.
The pirates have taken the hijacked vessel, which was enroute to UAE from Mozambique, to the territorial waters of Somalia. The Navy on Tuesday first dispatched a P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft on receiving information that MV Abdullah had been attacked by pirates.
“The P-8I located MV Abdullah in the evening.
The aircraft attempted to establish communication to ascertain the status of the vessel’s crew but got no response,”an officer said. Then, an Indian warship, the multi-role frigate INS Tarkash, intercepted the hijacked vessel on Thursday morning.
“The safety of the vessel’s crew, all Bangladesh nationals held hostage by the pirates, was ascertained. But intervention was not possible since it could have led to casualties. The warship continued to remain in close vicinity of the vessel till it reached the territorial waters of Somalia,” he added.
Owners of such hijacked commercial ships have been known to pay ransoms to get their vessels and crews back from the Somali pirates. In some of the recent incidents, pirates who did not have the crews of hijacked vessels under their direct control had fled on skiffs after being confronted by Indian warships and aircraft.
“If the pirates are apprehended, they are usually disarmed and set adrift on their boats to ensure they can pose no threat to other vessels in the area,” another officer said.
