A cargo ship with 15
Indian crew members was hijacked late Thursday 11 Jan evening near the coast of
Somalia in the Indian Ocean, marking another crisis for maritime trade harassed
by attacks on vessels in the Arabian Sea in the past one month.
The series of assaults
have come in the wake of Iran-backed Houthis stepping up attacks on ships in
the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Last month, the Indian government flagged the rising cases of piracy in
international waters and advised seafarers to be extremely cautious.
On December 23,
Japanese-owned and Liberian-flagged merchant vessel MV Chem Pluto carrying 20
Indian crew members was hit by a suspected drone about 217 nautical miles
South-West off Gujarat's Porbandar in the Arabian Sea and caught fire.A day
later, a Gabon-flagged commercial crude oil tanker MV Sai Baba with 25 Indian
crew members came under drone attack in the Southern Red Sea when it was on its
way to India. No one was injured in the attack by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels,
who control much of Yemen.
Repeated incidents have indicated a shift such
attacks much closer to India's Exclusive Economic Zone.
"In response to
these incidents, the Indian Navy has already substantially enhanced maritime
surveillance efforts in the Central/North Arabian sea and augmented force
levels. Task groups comprising destroyers and frigates have been deployed to
undertake maritime security operations and render assistance to merchant
vessels in case of any incident," the Navy said earlier this week.