Indian Naval vessel repulses pirate attack on merchant ship

Mumbai, Nov 11 (UNI) A Naval warship today repulsed an attack by pirates on an Indian vessel 'M J V Jagarnav' in the gulf of Aden.

The attack on the Indian Ship took place around 1030 hrs and the Indian naval warship, patrolling the area, responded to the alarm raised by the merchant ship when it was 60 nautical miles east of Aden, official sources said here.

An armed helicopter with marine commandoes took off from the naval ship to intervene and prevent the pirates from boarding and hijacking the merchant vessel. The timely and successful intervention led to the pirates aborting their attempt.

The naval ship thereafter escorted the ship to safety.

'M J V Jagaarnav' was a 38,265 tonne bulk carrier, owned by the great eastern shipping co ltd. the ship had transited the Suez Canal a few days ago and was eastward bound in the gulf of Aden when she came under attack of the pirates.

The Indian Navy has been conducting anti piracy patrols in the gulf of Aden since October 23 as a sizeable portion of the country's trade flow through the Gulf of Aden and there had been a quantum increase in the number of piracy attacks in this region over the last few months. These patrols are carried out in coordination with the ministry of shipping and are intended to protect Indian merchant vessels from being attacked by pirates and also to instill confidence in the large seafaring community, the sources added.

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