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.
"The Navy has already re-deployed a warship to the Gulf of Aden. The ship, which was in the region, was asked to rush to the Gulf of Aden following the government orders," a naval officer said in New Delhi.
In July last year, a vessel collided with the Mumbai High platform, killing 26 people and destroying the platform.
The government has asked Indian ships sailing in the Malacca Strait and South East Asia to be 'extra cautious' and take necessary security steps in view of rising incidents of hijacking and robbery
The navy launched a SeaKing chopper at 7:58 am from INS Shikra, Colaba, while CG launched two Chetak helicopters at around 8:40 am for the rescue operation.
'If attacks escalate, there is a risk the Suez Canal may be closed.'
Nearly 400 migrants died in an attempt to reach Italy from Libya when their boat capsized, survivors said.
Lieutenant Commander Prerana Pravin Deosthalee will lead an all-male crew. She is currently the first lieutenant of INS Chennai, the missile destroyer that rescued a foreign merchant ship hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia last week.
An Indian national, believed to have been injured in a bomb blast in Yemen's Aden, has succumbed to his injuries, defence sources said on Friday.
Engagement with neighbours is a strategic imperative, and not an option, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
With the revision of the HRA, which was extended to include the west coast of India in 2010, some of the country's maritime security concerns like floating armouries and proliferation of private security are likely to be addressed, the Navy said.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
A deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm, named Remal, on Saturday evening and is likely to turn severe before making landfall between the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
As severe cyclonic storm 'Remal' initiated its landfall process between the coasts of Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal on Sunday evening, authorities took swift action, evacuating over 1 lakh people from vulnerable areas of the state to safety.
Many countries including the United States and France have offered help to India in its ongoing operations to bring out bodies in the sunken submarine INS Sindhurakshak.
'Indians are basically liked because they are educated, they are intelligent.'
Foreign minister Ali Sabry told the cabinet that the Chinese vessel had only asked for a refuelling visit.
India's historical focus on its continental borders has overshadowed its maritime ambitions, but that is changing quickly, notes Ajai Shukla.
The world needs to wake up to this new dimension of war at sea and be prepared to face the 'unknown enemy' who have the advantage of attacking at their choice of location and time, cautions Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Access to Sabang Port will allow the Indian Navy to dominate Malacca Strait more effectively, reports Ajai Shukla.
Sri Lanka's Hambantota Port authorities said the high-tech Chinese research vessel that was to dock there on Thursday won't reach the port as scheduled, according to a media report, days after India expressed security concerns over its presence in the island nation.
'I can feel the master's pain, because he must be sitting there and cursing and saying, 'Why was I born?''
China's embassy in Colombo has sought an urgent meeting with senior Sri Lankan authorities after Colombo sought a deferment of the planned docking of a high-tech Chinese research vessel at the strategic Hambantota port over which India raised concerns, sources said.
In an interview with France24, Wickremesinghe said, "We are a neutral country, but we also emphasise the fact that we cannot allow Sri Lanka to be used as a base for any threats against India."
Riled by Sri Lanka's request to defer the planned docking of a high-tech Chinese research vessel at the strategic Hambantota Port, China on Monday took a dig at India, saying it was "senseless to pressure" Colombo by citing the issue of security concerns.
The ship will now arrive on August 16 and remain at the Hambantota port till August 22, they said.
The country's first indigenously designed and built warship Godavari will be decommissioned on Wednesday in Mumbai, thirty-two years after it was commissioned into the Indian Navy.
China's high-tech research vessel 'Yuan Wang 5' is on a 'mission of peace and friendship' and its docking at a Sri Lankan port will deepen bilateral relations in the field of space, science and technology, according to the controversial ship's captain.
China on Monday said Sri Lanka has allowed its satellite and missile tracking ship to berth at the Hambantota port on Tuesday, but declined to reveal details of talks with Colombo leading to the bankrupt island's government reversing its earlier stand to defer the high-tech vessel's entry.
China on Tuesday said the activities of its high-tech research vessel will not affect the security of any country and should not be 'obstructed' by any 'third party', as the ship berthed at Sri Lanka's strategic southern port of Hambantota amid Indian and United States concerns.
The NCB also found some documents and some material, suspected to be drugs, after an over six-hour-long search onboard the ship, the official said, without divulging any further details.
Pakistani ships in high seas can pose a jehadi threat, Navy Chief Admiral R K Dhowan today said, citing reports of an attempt by militants to hijack a Pakistan navy frigate in September. He said that threat of maritime terrorism is increasing and the force was prepared for it.
This is perhaps the first categorical statement by the government on the fate of the 29 people on board the IAF workhorse.
Somali pirates are "shifting their location" towards India, but the country is watchful to deal with such threats, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
The government will chart out a plan for the evacuation of seafarers stuck on international waters amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Union Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya has said. Thousands of Indian seafarers are currently stuck aboard cruise ships and cargo vessels in far off waters, and maritime bodies have been demanding from the government strategies for bringing them home fearing that delays might result in disruption in supply chain.
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