Indian Navy ship INS Sharda foils piracy bid in Gulf of Aden-Watch video

INS Sharda, an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) had been deployed in Gulf for anti-piracy operation since April 6

By: News Desk |
May 17, 2017 6:21 pm

In a show of valour, the Indian Navy on Tuesday foiled a piracy attempt on Liberian registered merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden. INS Sharda, an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) of Indian Navy, was used in rescuing MV Lord Mountbatten. The Indian patrolling ship had been deployed in Gulf for anti-piracy operation since April 6.

The patrolling ship received a distress call from the Liberian ship, MV Lord Mountbatten, at around 4.45 pm on May 16, Navy officials said. As soon as INS Sharda arrived at the location, the warship detected two dhows alongwith eight skiffs in vicinity,three of the skiffs fled the area at high speed on sighting the Navy ship, the Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma said.

# Anti-piracyOpsGoA INS Sharda foils piracy attempt in the Gulf of Aden https://t.co/HO5wcf4vDT pic.twitter.com/0oQuBE6Nr1

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 17, 2017

Navy’s MARCOS commandos with support of the armed helicopter from the ship investigated the dhows and their skiffs by conducting boat and search operations, Captain Sharma added. The commandos also fired shots from Light Machine Gun (LMG) on the helicopter following which the suspected pirates surrendered.

#WATCH: INS Sharda, an Offshore Patrol Vessel foils piracy attempt on MV Lord Mountbatten, by 2 mother ships & 8 skiffs, in Gulf of Aden pic.twitter.com/nYuMdvA1GK

— ANI (@ANI_news) May 17, 2017

“On 16 May 17, at about 1645 hrs, the ship received a distress call from MV Lord Mountbatten (a Liberian registered ship), in position 230 nm South-West of Salalah (in the Gulf of Aden). The vessel had reported an incident of attempted piracy by two suspicious mother vessels alongwith 7-8 skiffs. Sharda, which was at that time 30 Nm East of the reported position, immediately responded to the distress call and proceeded at best speed to investigate the incident,” the Navy said in a statement.