Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal made the request during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Monday.
Seven Indian sailors were among 14 foreigners released on Sunday from the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital of Sanaa, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said.
The Coast Guard coordinated the rescue of crew members of a container which sank some 840 nautical miles from Mumbai.
A major fire that broke out on the Colombo-bound merchant vessel M V Amsterdam Bridge off Mumbai coast has been contained but the presence of dangerous cargo continues to make things critical, Coast Guard officials said.
The ship, carrying hazardous cargo, caught fire near the Prongs Reef Lighthouse in South Mumbai on Sunday.
As many as 43 Indians are under the captivity of Somalian pirates, the government said on Monday.
The Indian Navy has swiftly responded to a call for help following a hijacking incident involving a Malta-flagged cargo vessel with 18 crew on board in the Arabian Sea, officials said on Saturday.
Fire-fighters, along with Navy personnel, are battling a major blaze to salvage warship INS Vindhyagiri, which is listing after colliding with a merchant vessel at the Mumbai harbour. "The fire broke out soon after the ship collided with another vessel on Sunday evening. The Mumbai fire brigade was alerted early on Monday," fire brigade sources said. There is nobody on board the warship as everybody was evacuated on Sunday evening.
Two Panamanian cargo ships collided on Saturday off the Mumbai coast causing an oil spill from one of the vessels but no casualties were reported, Indian Coast Guard officials said.
"The government on Thursday approved deployment of Indian naval warships in Gulf of Aden to patrol the normal route followed by Indian flagships during passage between Salalah in Oman and Aden in Yemen," a defence ministry spokesperson announced in Delhi.
The Indian Navy, which regards itself as the 'net security provider' in the Indian Ocean Region, has also stepped up to the plate, with a warship stationed at all times off the Gulf of Aden for counter-piracy tasks. 91 Indian warships have been deployed in the region since 2008, patrolling high risk areas where piracy was rampant.
The seized North Korean ship is being brought to Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh where central security agencies and nuclear scientists will carry out an extensive search of the vessel M V Mu San intercepted off Andaman and Nicobar coast while awaiting clearance to proceed to Iraq.
Five days after it broke free from its tow and ran aground at the Juhu beach, efforts began on Thursday to salvage freighter MV Wisdom with Naval helicopters pressed into service.
Suspected pirates on Thursday attempted to hijack an Indian ship in the Gulf of Aden, but were apprehended by a United States missile cruiser, which 'quickly' responded to the merchant vessel's distress call. The Indian-flagged Motor Vessel Premdivya sent a distress call reporting that she had been fired by a small skiff and suspected pirates were attempting to board it. The guided missile cruiser Vella Gulf intercepted the call and navy copter signaled for the skiff to stop
In the wake of Mumbai attacks by terrorists who came by the sea route, the Centre on Friday decided to authorise the Coast Guard to check all the "suspicious merchant vessels" prior to entry at the country's ports.
Unregulated floating private armouries carrying combatants of certain countries are a matter of concern and can have serious security implications for the country including infiltration of terrorists that can lead to 26/11-type attacks, Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi warned on Tuesday.
The grounded oil tanker drifted from Oman coast to the city's Juhu-Versova beach in July last year.
The Indian Navy on Saturday dismissed Pakistan's allegation that an Indian warship had brushed PNS Babar escorting MV Suez, a merchant vessel released by Somali pirates, saying the "reports of aggression" are "incorrect and based on misinformation".
Kerala high court on Tuesday asked the owner of Italian Merchant Vessel Enrica Lexie and the families of the two fishermen allegedly killed by the marines whether they were willing for an out of court settlement for determining the compensation.
A Dornier aircraft of the Coast Guard, which flew over the area on Wednesday morning, found a 'thin oil sheen only 300 metres wide.
Security agencies are probing any possible link between Somalian pirates and Pakistan-based terror groups. Somalian pirates were now operating eastwards from their country and moving towards India and posed a threat to all merchant vessels passing through the high seas between India and the Maldives, Indian Coast Guard Director General Vice Admiral Anil Chopra said in New Delhi.
A group of sailors taken hostage by Somali pirates nearly two years ago have appealed to the government to get them released from captivity.
Three piracy attempts in last four days in the Gulf of Aden have been thwarted by the Indian Navy which neutralised eight armed Somali pirates, navy officials said on Monday.
The Centre on Friday said that the Indian Navy had 'coordinated' with other navies operating in the piracy-affected region to provide security cover to MV Suez, the Egyptian merchant vessel with six Indian nationals, which was released by Somali pirates four days ago. "The Navy coordinated with other navies in the region so that security cover could be provided to MV Suez, the ship which was released by pirates recently.
After four days of hectic negotiations, two Naval guards of an Italian merchant vessel were taken into custody in Kochi on Sunday and charged with murder in the killing of two Indian fishermen during a firing on their boat off the Kerala coast.
Fifteen Somali and Ethiopian pirates apprehended by the Indian Navy after a gunbattle off the Lakshadweep coast while trying to loot a foreign merchant vessel were on Monday placed under arrest and would face the Indian law for the first time.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide ranging discussions with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran and their discussion focused on the long term framework for India's involvement with the strategically vital Chabahar port and the North-South connectivity project.
A local court on Wednesday granted interim bail to the captain of merchant vessel MSC Chitra, which collided with another cargo ship off Mumbai's coast on Saturday, after the prosecution sought time to file a reply on his anticipatory bail plea.The captain, Mandeleno Ranjit Martin, had sought bail after an FIR was registered against him.The prosecution sought time till August 18 to file their reply on the bail plea.
The 22 crew members, including six Indians, of Egyptian merchant vessel MV Suez will reach Karachi before being sent back to their respective countries, Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney has said. Burney, who has played a pivotal role in securing the release of the crew, hoped the return of the Indian sailors would be a "gift" to India. Besides the six Indians, there are five Pakistanis and one Sri Lankan among the crew.
Naval divers on Sunday recovered the body of one of the three fishermen who went missing after their boat was hit by a merchant vessel of Alappuzha coast.
The Indian Navy rescued 26 people, including 11 Indians on-board a sinking merchant vessel with the help of an Italian warship after they were released by Somali pirates following a ransom payment. After being in captivity in Somalia since April last year, MV RAK Africana, a ship owned by captain Ajay Kotwal, could not sail out of the Somali coast on March 9 because of engine problems, Navy officials said.
The Indian Navy is keeping a close eye on Iranian merchant vessel MV Assa, anchored for over a month off the coast of Kerala.
Taking serious note of the incident where a merchant vessel M V Pavit ran aground at Mumbai coast on Sunday, Defence Minister A K Antony has asked Navy and Indian Coast Guard to submit a report as to how the abandoned ship entered Indian waters undetected.
The MV Suez's 22-member crew, including six Indians, were on Sunday transferred to a Pakistani warship when the Egyptian merchant vessel, which was recently released by Somali pirates after payment of ransom, began taking on water in the Arabian Sea.
The Indian Navy said warships and aircraft were deployed to establish presence, provide a sense of reassurance to the Indian merchant men
In a strong display of its prowess in the global fight against the menace of piracy threatening maritime trade near Horn of Africa, Indian Navy's guided missile destroyer INS Mysore repulsed the pirate attack on Ethiopian flag-bearing MV Gibe that was sailing 150 nautical miles off Aden in Yemen around noon, a Navy spokesperson said in New Delhi.
Searching for terrorists, Indian Coast Guard ships are now stopping all merchant vessels and ships moving towards Pakistan and Gulf region and carrying out checks inside them.
Indian Navy spokesperson on Wednesday said its stealth frigate INS Tabar, currently deployed in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy surveillance and patrol operations, had successfully sorted out the pirates last evening 285 nautical miles south west of Salalah in Oman.
"Since Saturday afternoon, the 12 Somali and 11 Yemeni pirates are kept in custody on board INS Mysore and they are being fed with the rations meant for sailors," Navy officials said in Delhi on Monday. "We have not received any instructions yet from the Defence Ministry or the External Affairs Ministry on what needs to be done with the pirates," they said
In the general euphoria surrounding the safe return of the Stolt Valor and its crew we tend to forget some of the more disturbing aspects of the incident.
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