Indian Navy rescued Bangladeshi vessel near Somalia, attacked by Somalian pirates

The Indian Navy responded to an SOS by a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship that was seized by pirates off the Somalia coast and took 23 of its crew members hostage earlier this week, the Navy said in a statement on Friday 15 Mar.

The Bangladeshi-flagged vessel, MV Abdullah, was en route from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates with a cargo of around 55,000 tonnes of coal when it was attacked by Somalian pirates on the evening of March 12 (Tuesday).

On receipt of intimation, the Indian Navy promptly deployed the Long-Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) aircraft to rescue the vessel.The Indian Navy’s deployed warship, which was diverted earlier, intercepted the hijacked merchant vessel. As per officials, the warship successfully intercepted the Bangladeshi ship on the morning of March 14.

Later, the safety of the hijacked crew members (all Bangladesh nationals) was ascertained, and the warship continued to stay in the close vicinity of the MV Abdullah till its arrival in the territorial waters of Somalia.

Hijackings off Somalia coast since December have sparked worries about a resurgence of piracy in the Indian Ocean, coinciding with a separate increase in attacks on shipping initiated by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.