Congrats to the Indian Navy, doing something about piracy

[Mark]

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/afric ... erecommend

After all the piracy going on in the world, and none of the other countries seeming to do anything about it, kudos for your navy picking up the tomahawk here!

It has become a worldwide problem again it seems:

http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option ... jr4qlxK1J3

The article referenced so you don't have to click:




India: Pirate 'mother ship' left in flames

* Story Highlights
* Indian navy says its frigate attacked a pirate "mother vessel"
* Skirmish took place Tuesday about 525 kilometers from Oman's Salalah port
* Battle follows a recent surge in piracy off the Horn of Africa

(CNN) -- An Indian warship has exchanged fire with a pirate "mother vessel" off the hijacking-plagued Horn of Africa, leaving the ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden, an official said Wednesday.

The skirmish took place Tuesday evening about 525 kilometers southwest of Oman's Salalah port when the frigate INS Tabar spotted a suspected pirate ship with two speedboats in tow, India's Defense Ministry reported.

"This vessel was similar in de.scription to the 'Mother Vessel' mentioned in various piracy bulletins," the ministry said in a written statement.

The battle follows a recent surge in piracy off the Horn of Africa, including the weekend hijacking of a Saudi-owned supertanker by pirates based in largely lawless Somalia. See where latest hijacking took place. »

Three other vessels have been captured since then in what a London-based maritime official called a "completely unprecedented" situation.

When the Tabar's crew hailed the ship and demanded it stop for inspection, the pirates threatened to destroy the Indian ship, the ministry reported.

"Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar," the ministry said.

The Indian frigate returned fire, setting the pirate ship ablaze and setting off explosions on board, the statement said. Two speedboats in tow behind the ship fled; one was found abandoned after a pursuit by the Tabar.

It was not clear Wednesday whether the mother ship sank after the fighting, naval spokesman Prem Raj Rawat told CNN.

Michael Howlett, assistant director of the International Maritime Bureau in London, which tracks pirate attacks, said the recent upsurge in activity was unprecedented. "We've never seen a situation like this," he said.

On Tuesday, pirates hijacked a Thai fishing vessel and a Chinese-flagged Iranian cargo ship carrying wheat in the waters off the Horn of Africa.

A third ship -- a Chinese fishing vessel -- was hijacked Saturday, but word did not reach authorities until Tuesday, Howlett said.

Noel Choong, who heads the IMB's Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said 95 pirate attacks have taken place in the Gulf of Aden.

Of those, 39 resulted in successful captures; 17 of those vessels and their crews -- a total of about 300 sailors -- remain in the hands of the pirates.

But the seizure of the 300,000-ton supertanker Sirius Star took place well south of the gulf, in the Indian Ocean off Kenya.

Pirate attacks are spreading farther north to the Gulf of Aden and farther south off the Kenyan coast, Choong said.

"The risks are low and the returns are extremely high for these pirates," he told CNN. Pirates know that their chances of getting killed or captured during a hijacking are very low, he said.

[Fulcrum]

Sounds like the appropriate thing to do, rather than pay up ransom to get Indian hostages freed. About time, I would think and our Navy will get some actual firing practice as well. However, the negative part is that we will just become hated folk in that area. I can't imagine that the Somali pirates are running their operations all on their own without any support.

[Yaj]

Good Job by our Navy! But I hope this will not have negative repercussions on any Indian sailors who may be captured in any piracy in the future.
Regards,
Yaj.

[Mack The Knife]

kudos for your navy picking up the tomahawk here!

My sentiments as well.

[Fulcrum]

heck - we seem to have sunk a Thai trawler instead - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7749245.stm

but what was the Thai trawler doing there near Gulf of Aden?

[yash3_great]

The Thai company claims that the trawler was in the process of being hijacked when the Indian Navy barged in and sank it. However, navy claims that it is just an attempt to claim insurance for the missing or already hijacked trawler. After all what was the trawler doing in the high seas, laden with ammunition?

[Yaj]

I think the going is so good over there that other international ships are joining the Somalis in order to earn a fast buck.
Piracy off the coasts of Thailand and Malaysia is quite an old story but I think they have decided that they should join in on the party off Somalia
Piracy is certainly more lucrative than fishing!
Regards,
Yaj.

[dev]

I am so glad that we are kicking butt. I remember reading about the navy asking permission to do so earlier and some boffin dithering about it.

Looks like they got the clearances. Hope they blow em out of the water.

Dev

[lazybones]

Saw some pics of the INS Tabar on the box. No squat battleship this. has the lines of a racing yacht.
The Somalis looked more like scalywags than pirates Still, a bunch of cold blooded killers and the navy did well to take them out of the fight. Some nerve, taking on a fully armed frigate with a tuna boat and small arms

Ashok