Indian Navy’s prompt response again saved a cargo vessel that came under a drone strike in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday night. A Marshall Island-flagged vessel with 22 crew members, including nine Indians, was attacked 60 nautical miles South of Port Aden.
The Indian Navy’s “mission deployed” guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam responded to the attack within an hour of receiving a distress call from the vessel Genco Picardy, the Indian Navy said in a statement.
The officials said the Indian Navy’s EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) specialists boarded the vessel early Thursday morning to inspect the damaged area.
#IndianNavy‘s Guided Missile Destroyer #INSVisakhapatnam, mission deployed in #GulfofAden for #antipiracy ops, swiftly responded to by Marshall Island flagged MV #GencoPicardy following a at 2311 hrs on #17Jan 24 & intercepted the… pic.twitter.com/FOs5aAxLzV— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 18, 2024
“EOD specialists, after a thorough inspection, have rendered the area safe for further transit. The vessel is proceeding to the next port of call,” the statement said.
As per the Navy, MV Genco Picardy was attacked by a drone at 11:11 pm on Wednesday. INS Visakhapatnam, which was undertaking anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden, acknowledged the distress call and intercepted the vessels at 12:30 am on Thursday.
The latest incidents came amid concerns over Houthi militants stepping up attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. A recent surge in attacks on commercial ships has disrupted a major global trade route.
On December 23, Liberian-flagged vessel MV Chem Pluto, with 21 Indian crew members, was the target of a drone attack off India’s west coast. Besides MV Chem Pluto, another commercial oil tanker on the way to India came under a suspected drone strike on the same day.
In another incident, pirates tried to hijack the Malta-flagged vessel MV Ruen on December 14.
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