All crew members, together with 15 Indians, aboard the hijacked vessel MV Lila Norfolk on Friday, have been rescued. Indian Navy Marine Commandos are conducting sanitisation operations in different areas of the ship, information company ANI reported citing officers.
All of the crew, together with 15 Indians, onboard the hijacked vessel MV Lila Norfolk have been secured and are protected. Indian Navy Marine Commandos are finishing up sanitisation operations in different elements of the vessel: Navy officers to ANI pic.twitter.com/HUToLWJUO9
— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2024
Citing Protection officers, ANI reported that Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar issued directives to the Indian warships working within the Arabian Sea to take the strictest doable motion towards the pirates. 4 Indian Navy warships are mission deployed within the Arabian Sea to discourage assaults on service provider ships within the area.
Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar has issued directives to the Indian warships working within the Arabian Sea to take the strictest doable motion towards the pirates. 4 Indian Navy warships are mission deployed within the Arabian Sea to discourage assaults on service provider ships within the… pic.twitter.com/rZNatUuHRz
— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2024
Earlier in a press release, the Navy mentioned it has taken quick motion by deploying a warship and a maritime surveillance plane within the Arabian Sea, in response to the reported hijacking of the Liberian-flagged service provider vessel, MV Lila Norfolk.
Based on stories, MV Lila Norfolk transmitted a misery sign by the UK Maritime Commerce Operations (UKMTO) portal, indicating {that a} group of 5 to 6 armed people had boarded the ship on Thursday night. Indian Navy officers have acknowledged that they’re carefully coordinating with different regional maritime businesses to watch the scenario.
#INSChennai diverted from #AntiPiracy patrol intercepted MV Lila Norfolk at 1515h on #05Jan 2024.
MV was stored beneath steady surveillance utilizing MPA, Predator MQ9B & integral helos.#IndianNavy MARCOs current onboard the Mission Deployed warship boarded MV & commenced… https://t.co/gotHLCZL5e
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 5, 2024
In an official assertion, the Indian Navy confirmed its immediate motion, stating, “The Indian Navy swiftly deployed a maritime surveillance plane and redirected INS Chennai, which was on a maritime safety mission, to help MV Lila Norfolk.” The assertion additional talked about that the plane made contact with the vessel early on Friday morning, confirming the protection of the crew on board.
The UKMTO, a British army organisation liable for monitoring vessel actions in strategic waterways, continually tracked the scenario. This incident provides to a collection of maritime safety breaches noticed in important waterways in current weeks.
Earlier incidents embody a drone assault on the Liberian-flagged MV Chem Pluto, carrying 21 Indian crew members, off India’s western coast on December 23. Moreover, a industrial oil tanker en path to India skilled a suspected drone strike within the Southern Crimson Sea on the identical day, with 25 Indian crew members on board. One other notable incident concerned the hijacking of the Malta-flagged MV Ruen by pirates on December 14.