Indian Navy warships deployed to deter pirates in Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden

Stepping up its presence to show the flag and deter piracy and drone strikes, the Indian Navy has now deployed almost 10 frontline warships with marine commandos in the region stretching from the north and central Arabian Sea to the Gulf of Aden, the officials said on Friday.

"6-10 major indigenous Indian Navy warships, including sestroyers, frigates and offshore patrol vessels, are deployed in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden with a special focus near the coast of Somalia to prevent piracy and drone attacks on merchant vessels," the navy officials said.

According to the officials, the Indian warships are keeping an eye on the situation to deter any incidents at sea.

Amid the recent spate of attacks on Indian merchant ships in the Arabian Sea, the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral R Hari Kumar, on Wednesday said that the Indian Navy was proactively deploying its fleet to keep pirates at bay.

Addressing media persons after unveiling the first indigenously manufactured Drishti 10 Starliner Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in Hyderabad on Wednesday, the Navy chief said, "Over the past 42 days, as many as 35 such attacks (approximately) have taken place, primarily targeting Israeli-owned vessels. However, no India-flagged vessel has been attacked so far."

"We are now, very proactively, deploying our units there to ensure that the pirates at kept at bay. If you look at the last 40-42 days, about 35 such attacks have taken place, largely on Israeli-owned shipping assets. No India-flagged vessel has been attacked so far," the chief of the Naval Staff said.

The Navy chief added that there have only been two incidents, so far, which prompted the marine warriors to conduct anti-piracy operations.

"Both incidents involved non-Indian-flagged vessels. In the second incident, an Indian crew was aboard the vessel, prompting the Navy to respond," he added.

"Anti-piracy operations were conducted in the wake of only two such incidents. In both cases, the vessels were not India-flagged. However, in the second incident, there were Indian crew members on board the ship because of which we had to respond. We got the necessary consent from the owners of the vessel and rescued the distressed crew," the chief of Naval Staff said.

"We have not yet been able to identify from where all these attacks are being directed. We have collected debris of drones collected from three ships and are analysing it," the Navy chief said.