Navy nabs 61 Somali pirates after gun-battle in Arabian Sea

New Delhi, Mar 14 (PTI) After a gun-battle in the high
seas, the Indian Navy has apprehended a pirate mother ship
rescuing 13 crew members and arrested 61 Somali sea brigands
about 600 nautical miles off the western coast in the Arabian
Sea.
"At 2100 hours on March 12, INS Kalpeni intercepted a
pirate mother vessel called Vega 5 in the Arabian Sea about
600 nautical miles west of India. 13 crew members were rescued
and 61 pirates were nabbed," Navy spokesperson Commander P V
Satish said here Monday.
The operation had started on Friday when a naval
Dornier aircraft located Vega 5 while responding to a call
from a merchant ship MV Vancouver Bridge in the area and
foiled the piracy attempt, he said.
"Seeing the naval aircraft, the pirates immediately
aborted their piracy attempt and the mother vessel attempted
to escape from the area. Simultaneously, INS Khukri and
Kalpeni were diverted to intercept and investigate," the
spokesperson said.
After INS Kalpeni closed in on Vega 5, the pirate
vessel launched two skiffs attacking the Indian Navy ship with
fire arms, he said.
"INS Kalpeni responded with limited firing and,
thereafter, it was observed that a fire had broken out on Vega
5 and its personnel were seen jumping overboard," he said.
Later on, INS Kalpeni in conjunction with INS
Khukri found 74 personnel comprising 61 pirates and 13 crew
members of the fishing vessel.
Preliminary investigations, officials said, have
revealed that the pirates were carrying about 80 to 90 rifles
and a few heavier weapons, possibly rocket propelled
grenades (RPGs).
Vega 5, a Mozambique-flagged fishing vessel, was
hijacked on December 10, last year and was being used as
mother vessel for piracy operations. The brigands had carried
out several attacks in last four months, the officials said.
"Naval ships and aircraft are presently in the area
searching for any other fishermen or pirates," they said.
After the operation, the apprehended pirates and the
Vega-5 were being brought to Mumbai for further
investigations, they said.
In addition to anti-piracy patrols being sustained in
the Gulf of Aden since October 2008, the Navy and the Coast
Guard have been maintaining vigil west of the Lakshadweep
Islands in the last four months.
"This has proved effective and piracy incidents in
this area have seen a 60 per cent decline since December
2010," the officials said.
The Navy had sunk two pirate mother ships on January
28 and February 5 in the Arabian Sea and arrested 43 pirates
there under 'Operation Island Watch'.
INS Kalpeni is a fast attack craft which was inducted
into the Navy in October last year whereas INS Khukri is a
missile corvette. The ships were present in the area as part
of anti-piracy patrol.
The operation apprehending 61 pirates comes after
the Cabinet Committee on Security on Friday last decided to
adopt a proactive approach in dealing with sea brigands, who
have held around 53 Indians as hostages in different hijacked
ships. The government has ruled out negotiations with the
pirates.
The government is working on a tough law to deal
with the piracy problem.
At present, piracy is dealt with under the
provisions of the Indian Penal Code and century-old Admiralty
Law but the government is considering a separate statute with
provisions to effectively tackle the problem that takes
place far away from Indian shores.