Friday February 2, 2024
Officials with the captured pirates during an anti-piracy operation by INS Sumitra, rescuing Fishing Vessel Al Naeemi and her Crew (19 Pakistani Nationals) from 11 Somali Pirates off the East Coast of Somalia. (PTI Photo)
The Indian Navy has shared a video in which some Pakistani and Iranian crew members can be seen thanking its personnel for rescuing them from a ship hijacked by Somali pirates off the east coast of Somalia.
In the video, some crew members could be heard sharing their ordeal and saying “Thank you, humara jaan bachaya (thank you for saving us)” to the Indian Navy.
On Tuesday, the Navy said it had rescued a crew of 19 Pakistani nationals from 11 Somali pirates in a successful operation on the hijacked fishing vessel Al Naeemi. The Navy’s INS Sumitra had carried out the anti-piracy operation which was the second in a span of 36 hours.
One of the rescued crew members said Somali pirates had hijacked their ship and kept them hostage. “The Somali pirates dropped weapons and tried to run away after seeing the Indian Navy coming, but were caught,” he said.
“Somali pirates had captured us in the morning. They were scared once they saw the Indian Navy and tried to flee, but were caught,” said another crew member.
The Indian Navy had earlier fired “warning shots” and carried out “aerial domination by ALH” to rescue Iranian-flagged fishing vessels FV Iman and Al Naeemi.
On January 29, INS Sumitra had thwarted a piracy attempt on the Iranian-flagged fishing vessel FV Iman, ensuring the safe release of the 17 crew members. The pirates had then boarded the vessel and taken the crew as hostages. After coercing the pirates to release the crew, the fishing vessel was sanitised and released for onward transit.