The Indian Navy will conduct a large-scale multilateral maritime engagement exercise with African countries in April, aiming to enhance interoperability with African navies and further strengthen maritime security cooperation. The exercise, titled "AIKEYME" (Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement), will see the participation of several African nations, including Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, and South Africa. The exercise is part of India's growing engagement with the Global South, as outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "MAHASAGAR" vision for mutual and holistic advancement in the region.
The Chinese and Pakistani navies at a naval base in Karachi on Saturday kicked off the 'Sea Guardians-3' exercise in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea in drills that include anti-submarine operations, Dawn News reported on the exercises which will end on Friday.
In the last few weeks, the Indian Navy has extended assistance to a number of merchant vessels in the Western Indian Ocean following attacks on them.
The Indian Navy rescued an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel with 19 Pakistani crew members and a Sri Lankan trawler in two swift operations after armed pirates hijacked the boats in the Arabian Sea amid deteriorating security situation arising out of Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeting various cargo ships in the region.
Indian Navy's elite marine commandos on Friday rescued 21 crew members including 15 Indians from a bulk carrier in the North Arabian Sea and sanitised it in a swift operation while responding to an attempted hijacking of the Liberian-flagged vessel by around five-six armed personnel.
The Coast Guard coordinated the rescue of crew members of a container which sank some 840 nautical miles from Mumbai.
Indian warship INS Sharda came to the rescue of the vessel FV Omaril with 11 Iranian and eight Pakistani crew members after it came under attack from pirates, they said.
A ferry carrying over 100 passengers capsized after being hit by a Navy craft off the Gateway of India in Mumbai, killing 13 people, including Navy personnel and two contractual naval employees. The ferry, 'Neel Kamal,' had a capacity of 90 passengers but was carrying over 100 people at the time of the accident. A case has been registered against the Navy craft driver at the Colaba police station. The mangled ferry has been taken to 'Bhaucha Dhakka' in south Mumbai.
Navy officials on Monday said that the swift response by the Indian Navy's mission deployed warship INS Sumitra ensured the safe release of the hijacked vessel and its crew.
Given the long distance from the closest land, the Indian Navy has deployed its state-of-the-art Boeing P-8I Poseidon long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, which have the endurance to reach the location of the incident.
The fresh incident comes amid growing global concerns over attacks on various commercial vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants.
The Indian Coast Guard has evacuated a Chinese national from a Panama-flagged research vessel on the Arabian Sea after he suffered a heart attack, the maritime security agency said in a statement on Thursday.
The search operation launched by naval boats to locate a seven-year-old boy missing after a Navy craft rammed into a ferry off the Mumbai coast two days ago continued on Friday, an official said.
Indian Navy's destroyer INS Kochi responded following the attack on the vessel, MV Andromeda Star, on April 26, officials said, adding all the crew members are safe.
A merchant vessel, with around 20 Indian crew, was hit by a suspected drone about 217 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast in the Arabian Sea on Saturday but there was no report of any casualties in the incident, Indian military sources and a maritime security agency said.
According to officials, the Indian Navy has opened an investigation into whether the drone used to attack the vessel was launched from long range or from a nearby vessel.
Eight crew members were rescued from a sinking ship off Beypore in Kerala on Saturday by the Coast Guard.
Naval boats have found the body of Johan Mohammad Nisar Ahmed Pathan, taking the toll in the December 18 tragedy to 15.
The two missing persons have been identified as 43-year-old Hansraj Bhati and seven-year-old Johan Mohammad Nisar Ahmed Pathan, the police said.
An Indian crew member of a Comoros-flagged oil tanker that capsized off the Oman coast has died, officials said on Thursday.
The Indian Navy continues to monitor the situation very closely with all stakeholders and remains committed to ensuring the safety of merchant shipping in the region, it said in a statement.
Following a fatal collision between a ferry and a Navy craft off the Mumbai coast, authorities have made life jackets mandatory for all passengers taking boat rides from the Gateway of India. The decision comes after survivors of the Wednesday tragedy claimed the ferry did not have enough life jackets. Some tourists, however, raised concerns about the effectiveness of life jackets if people don't know how to use them properly.
The Indian couple was on a four-day cruise on the Spectrum of the Seas which was on the way back to Singapore from Penang on Monday morning when the 70-year-old Jakesh woke up to find his wife missing from their room.
The senior diplomat on Thursday visited the Indian Coast Guard Headquarters (West) to express gratitude to the maritime security agency for saving Chinese mariners over the past two years, an official statement said.
Wind speed at the time is expected to be in the range of 125-135 kmph gusting up to 150 kmph.
The Navy said on Friday that the safety of the crew held hostage by armed pirates was ascertained and the Indian Navy warship continued to maintain its presence in the close vicinity of the vessel till its arrival in the territorial waters of Somalia.
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said in Lok Sabha the Navy deployed its units in the Gulf of Aden and East coast of Africa towards anti-piracy patrols since 2008 and a total of 3,440 ships and over 25,000 seafarers have been "safely escorted".
The Navy deployed a warship, maritime patrol aircraft P-8I, helicopters and and MQ9B Predator drones to assist the vessel, MV Lila Norfolk, after it sent a message on the UK Maritime Trade Operations portal, saying unknown armed personnel had boarded it on Thursday evening.
Maritime resources will be key to sustained growth and development of nations across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in the ongoing century, he said delivering his keynote address at the IOR Defence Ministers' Conclave held on the margins of Aero India-2021, India's premier defence and aerospace show.
The navy received information about the vessel, responded to the distress call and the Pakistan Maritime Information Centre requested a nearby merchant ship "MT KRUIBEKE" to provide necessary assistance to the stranded crew of the Indian vessel.
In a calibrated operation, the Indian Navy on Saturday 'coerced' 35 Pirates onboard a merchant ship around 1,400 nautical miles from the Indian coast to surrender and ensured the safe evacuation of 17 crew members without any injury, officials said.
Mere shuffling of resources or cosmetic changes to prove a point would be counterproductive in the long run, observes Commodore Venugoptal Menon (retd).
Russian authorities on Wednesday resumed search operation for 10 missing sailors, including four Indians.
Somalian pirates were captured by Indian Navy ships Trishul and Sumedha during anti-piracy operations last week.
The Indian Navy rescued the hijacked Iranian fishing vessel 'Al-Kambar 786' and its crew after more than 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures as part of an anti-piracy operation on March 29.
The Indian Navy's P8I maritime patrol aircraft on Thursday located a Chinese fishing vessel that capsized three days ago in the Indian Ocean, officials said.
'Although he was bed ridden most of the time he was in the vessel and unable to move on the upper deck, his condition is stable.'
According to Egyptian maritime officials, nearly 100 bodies had been recoved so far.
Early on March 26, 2024, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States collapsed after it was struck by a container ship, the Dali.
In another feat, Lt Jamyang Tsewang, the first commissioned naval officer from Ladakh, also successfully graduated as a qualified helicopter pilot, according to the Indian Navy.
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