All six crew members are safe, the Navy said. (File)
Indian Navy has helped in rescuing a Sri Lankan fishing trawler from pirates off the Somalian coast, officials said on Tuesday, thwarting a third hijacking attempt in the last three days. The vessel was finally intercepted in Seychelles by their coast guard with the help of inputs from the Indian Navy. All six crew members are safe and their vessel is being escorted to Mahe in Seychelles, the Navy said.
Lorenzo Putha 04, a Sri Lankan flagged vessel, was hijacked by three pirates off the Mogadishu coast on Saturday. In response, Indian Navy deployed its patrol vessel INS Sharada and sent Sea Guardian drones to locate the hijacked vessel.
The trawler was intercepted by Seychelles Coast Guard on Monday following coordination and information sharing through the Sri Lanka and Seychelles liaison officers, said the Navy.
“In a coordinated multilateral response to the hijacking of a Sri Lankan fishing vessel, the Indian Navy in collaboration with Seychelles Defence Forces and Sri Lanka Navy successfully intercepted and rescued the hijacked vessel,” they said.
There has been a rise in attacks on ships and hijackings since Israel-Hamas war began. Somalian waters and surrounding areas have a troubled history of piracy, including in Gulf of Aden and the Somali Sea.
The Indian Navy had responded to two other hijacking attempts off the Somalian coast since last weekend.
On Monday, Indian warship INS Sumitra rescued 19 Pakistani sailors from 11 pirates who had hijacked their fishing vessel – FV Al Naeemi – off the east coast of Somalia and taken the crew hostage.
The previous night, INS Sumitra responded to a distress call from another Iranian-flagged fishing vessel – FV Iman – that was hijacked by pirates in the same region, and ensured the safe release of 17 crew members.
Last Sunday, another Indian warship INS Visakhapatnam helped extinguish a massive fire on board a merchant vessel that was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden the previous night.
