The Indian Navy Chief Admiral Hari Kumar on Saturday raised concern that piracy has resurfaced as an industry owing to the current geo-political disorder. He also vowed further naval interventions to secure distressed vehicles on the high seas.
Kumar made the comments while addressing the media on the completion of hundred days of naval anti-drone, anti-missile, and anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and Red Sea. He said that the Navy will continue taking affirmative action to prevent such incidents, adding that ‘Operation Sankalp’, the naval operation to secure the crew of Bulgaria-flagged merchant vessel MV Ruen, has broken the myth of short and swift operations and stressed the need for sustained interventions to ensure the safety and stability of shipping assets in the oceans.
“We have deployed 10 warships in the entire region for anti-piracy, anti-missile, and anti-drone operations under Operation Sankalp. The task is to ensure safety and stability for merchant vessels carrying cargo to reach shores safely. Because they are deployed there, they can respond to attacks or incidents as first responders,” the Navy chief said.
He further mentioned that none of the Indian vessels were targetted by pirates and Houthi
rebels were targetting vessels linked to Iran.
Calling the Maritime Piracy Act 2022 a ‘great enabler’, Admiral Hari Kumar added that it has now enabled the force to visit, board and search pirated ships.
Last Saturday, as many as 35 Somali pirates, who were captured by the Indian Navy, were handed over to Mumbai Police after due formalities of Customs and Immigration.
Visuals from the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, showed the pirates standing in a queue as Mumbai Police assigned them chest numbers.
The operation involved a navy destroyer, a patrol ship, an Indian Air Force C-17 transporter flying more than 1,500 miles to airdrop marine commandos, a naval drone, a reconnaissance drone and a P-8 surveillance jet
