Agencies/Mumbai

 

 

Security guards keep a watch on a group of Somali pirates captured by the Indian navy in the Arabian Sea yesterday

The Indian navy has captured 61 suspected Somali pirates and rescued 13 fishermen after a firefight with a hijacked mother ship in the Arabian Sea, a navy spokesman said yesterday.

“A total of 74 men have been apprehended, of which 61 are suspected to be Somali pirates,” navy spokesman P V S Satish said, adding that the incident took place on Saturday night within Indian waters.

A total of 13 fishermen on board the mother ship, a Mozambique-flagged fishing boat, were rescued after the firefight 1,100km from the west coast of India.

The Vega 5 fishing boat was hijacked in December last year and was being used as a base for the pirates, who were found with small arms as well as rocket-propelled grenades and fuel drums.

A statement from the navy said its fast-attack craft, the INS Kalpeni, directed “limited” fire on the vessel after being shot at.

The detained pirates will be formally arrested by the Indian Coastguard and jointly interrogated by local police.

“After the gun battle, a fire broke out on the ship, apparently from fuel drums kept on the vessel. Personnel jumped overboard,” Satish said.

About 90 small arms and a number of heavier weapons including rocket-propelled grenades were found on board, the spokesman said. The damaged vessel was being towed to Mumbai.

He said the weekend’s operation was the “most significant success” of the navy’s anti-piracy deployment in the Gulf of Aden, launched in October 2008.

“The intercepted vessel had been a risk to international shipping for the past four months and had carried out several attacks,” Satish said.

Last month, India warned of an increased threat to shipping off its southwest coast, as Somali pirates hunt targets beyond African waters to evade the clutches of an international naval force.

There has been a rise in pirate attacks on merchant vessels within Indian waters and shipping has been warned to steer clear of danger areas, according to the coastguard.

A separate group of 15 suspected pirates - 12 Somalis, two Ethiopians and a Kenyan -face trial in India on charges including attempted murder after they were caught in January.

Last week, the Indian government said they were working on a tough law to tackle piracy and find ways to negotiate with pirates for the release of Indian sailors.

At least 53 Indians on five ships are being held by Somali pirates, according to a statement read by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna during the parliament proceedings.

“The government will take all appropriate action to safeguard the welfare of the Indian sailors,” he said, adding this would include diplomatic efforts at the multilateral level and with the UN.

India beefed up coastal security after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

A recent international anti-piracy meeting in Denmark hammered out a judicial framework for handling captured pirates, paving the way for the building of special pirate prisons.

The international community is facing difficulties in prosecuting the growing number of pirates off Somalia, a lawless, war-torn country that sits alongside one of the world’s most important shipping routes.