The Indian Navy has boarded the freighter that was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia. All crew members could therefore be evacuated. The destroyer “Chennai” had previously started pursuing the “Lila Norfolk”.
Indian marines have boarded a freighter hijacked by pirates in the Arabian Sea. The Indian military said the naval command was carrying out “cleanups” on the Liberian-flagged “Purple Norfolk”. It was later said that all 21 crew members were safely evacuated and no attackers were identified.
“The attempt at hijacking by the pirates was probably abandoned after the strong warning from the Indian Navy,” the Navy said in a statement. The Indian destroyer “Chennai” intercepted the freighter. The “Lila Norfolk” was captured about 460 nautical miles east of the Somali town of Eyl.
The Indian destroyer “Chennai” began pursuing the captured freighter “Lila Norfolk”.
Indian Navy patrols the Arabian Sea
The ship informed the British Maritime Office that five to six armed people came on board on the evening of January 4th, the Indian Navy said. The “Chennai” was then diverted and began pursuing the “Lila Norfolk”.
The Indian Navy has previously stepped up patrols in the Arabian Sea following attacks on merchant shipping. At the beginning of the week it announced that it had searched a large number of fishing boats and other vessels.
The coast off Somalia is a hotbed of piracy
The coast off the crisis state of Somalia was a hotspot for pirate attacks a few years ago. As a result of the EU mission “Atalanta”, which has been running since 2008 to combat piracy there, attacks have decreased significantly.
According to the IMB Piracy Reporting Center, there was another attack on December 14th in which a freighter was hijacked and driven to Somalia.
Somalia is located in the Horn of Africa on the other side of the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea to prevent them from passing through to Israel.
The Red Sea is considered one of the most important shipping routes for world trade because it connects the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal in Egypt. Many shipping companies are currently rerouting their ships and avoiding the Red Sea.
Peter Hornung, ARD New Delhi, tagesschau, January 5th, 2024 2:05 p.m