Indian Navy: Anti-Piracy Operations

nandu

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Indian, Indonesian navies coordinate patrols


The Indian Navy is carrying out coordinated patrolling with the Indonesian Navy as part of the 15th round of Ind-Indo CORPAT.
According to a statement issued by the Indian Navy, it has deployed INS Guldar [Landing Ship Tank (Medium)] under the command of Commander TV Sunil and INS Trinkat (Fast Attack Craft), captained by Lieutenant Commander Pushkar Kumar, to coordinate patrolling with an Indonesian Navy corvette. Both navies are also deploying a Dornier aircraft each.
The fortnight-long operation is under the overall control of Vice Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) and the Commander of the Indonesian Western Fleet Command (PANGARMABAR). The Indian Navy says the units in question will be under the tactical command of the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andaman and Nicobar) at Port Blair and the Indonesian Navy’s DANGUSKAMLABAR (Commander of Sea Security Group of the Western Fleet), located at Tanjung Pinang.
The two countries share a 300 nautical mile-long maritime boundary and the two navies conduct coordinated patrols of the International Maritime Boundary Line to prevent piracy, armed robbery, poaching, illegal immigration, drug trafficking etc.
The last Ind-Indo CORPAT was held in October-November last year. The last time the two navies met was during the 13-nation exercise, MILAN, held last month around the Andaman and Nicobar island group.

http://www.stratpost.com
 

nandu

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Mistaken for pirate, Indian fisherman shot off Oman coast

In what appears to be a case of mistaken identity, crew from a passing foreign cargo ship off the coast of Oman fired upon a group of fishermen, fearing they were pirates, and killed one of them. Another fisherman was injured in the incident on Monday morning.

Raju Ambrose, 34, was declared 'dead on arrival' by doctors at the Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah on the southwestern coast of Oman, said Manpreet Singh, president of the Indian Social Club Salalah. Ambrose, hailing from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, is survived by his wife, two teenaged daughters and a seven-year-old son.

Apparently, shots were fired without any warning or provocation from the ship at the group of nearly 75 fishermen who had set off from Salalah on 25 boats. Singh said it appears the ship's crew mistook the fishermen for pirates.

"The crew opened fire indiscriminately at a place called Sarbatat off the coast of Salalah and two people were injured," said Singh. "Both the victims were rushed to the Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah but Ambrose was declared as having been brought dead on arrival. The other fisherman, Sebastian, who was on a different boat, was treated and later discharged."

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mistaken-for-pirate-indian-fisherman-shot-off-oman-coast/609609/
 

ajtr

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EU asks India to co-chair anti-piracy group

The European Union has asked India to co-chair a key group that coordinates piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa, a position that China had been coveting as it seeks to bolster its presence in the Indian Ocean. But India is reluctant to accept it as it means a larger naval deployment that may not be feasible at the moment.

The offer was made during the visit of the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherin Ashton, to India last month.

'It was at the delegation level talks between Ashton and (External Affairs Minister) S.M. Krishna that the EU proposed that India could be made co-chair of SHADE,' a senior government official told IANS.

Publicly, Ashton had made it clear that her trip had been to solicit India's help in anti-piracy operations, but had not given any specific information on the cooperation required from India.

SHADE - or Shared Awareness and Deconfliction - was a forum established in December 2008 to coordinate activities between the countries and coalitions involved in military counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean region.

The waters off the coast of Somalia on the Horn of Africa had seen an astronomical rise in piracy attack in 2008 to 135, including seizure of 44 ships. With heavy military presence, the attacks have come down in 2010 to 67 incidents in the first three months, compared to 102 for the same period in 2009.

Based in Bahrain, SHADE, with 26 member nations and three coalitions, meets on a monthly basis. It is currently co-chaired by rotation between Coalition Maritime Forces, European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

When the offer was first made at the delegation-level talks, MEA officials had apparently not given it an enthusiastic reception.

The EU delegation was however persistent, with the offer again repeated at the meeting between Catherin Ashton and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

'It was the NSA who actually asked the MEA to take the suggestion seriously,' said a senior official.

An important member of the delegation was the EU chief of military staff, Lieutenant A.G.D. Van Osch, who had a separate meeting with the Indian naval chief, Admiral Nirmal Verma

The proposal is significant as it comes only a few weeks after the June 2 meeting of SHADE, when it seemed that China would become the co-chair of the international grouping.

Ranjit Rai, vice-president of the Indian Maritime Foundation, a Pune based think tank, had been an observer of the June 2 SHADE meeting, where he was witness to the Indian delegation's successful barricading of China's bid to become co-chair.

Since January, it was clear that China wanted to be chair of the group. It was expected that China would have a smooth path to the post.

'All the 17 delegates by turn gave their assent to China's membership. But, when it came to India, our representative objected saying that the terms of reference of the chairmanship had to be laid down,' Rai told IANS.

It took all the delegates by surprise. 'The chairman, NATO commander Adrain Vander Linde, was rather irritated and asked if India wants to become a co-chair,' he said.

But the Indian delegate insisted that the duties of the co-chair had to be spelled out clearly.

Two weeks later on June 22, Catherine Ashton came to Delhi with the formal offer to make India a co-chair.

China's expanded role had come after it agreed to have a permanent presence in a sector of the internationally recommended transit corridor, which are protected shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden. It had so far deployed three ships in escorting Chinese ships outside the internationally recommended transit corridor.

India is especially wary of China's enhanced role in SHADE, as it has publicly suggested that the region should be broken up for patrol for individual countries.

This would put a restriction on India's movement in the Indian Ocean, with Indian officials arguing that this would run foul of the United Nations Convention of Law of the Seas.

According to officials, India may find it difficult to accept the co-chair of SHADE, as it would mean enhancing the number of ships in the region, which may not be possible due to technical and political reasons. The Indian government had first taken the deployment of ships with reluctance in the first place.

India has only deployed one naval ship at a time in the transit corridor since October 2008 and has escorted over 1000 ships during the period, flying flags of different countries. It has also patrolled the extended economic zones of island nations like Seychelles, Mauritius and Maldives.
 

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Goa Shipyard Seeks To Export Patrol Vessels


India's Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) is exploring opportunities emerging out of the increasing anti-piracy operations across the globe, and hopes to become a leader in building high-speed patrol vessels for international customers facing danger at sea.

GSL is currently setting its sights on lightly armed vessels in response to ever-increasing demand due to all-time highs in pirate activity. The company is in talks with a couple of countries, and Oman has emerged as a potential frontrunner for export sales.

GSL sources tell AVIATION WEEK that the Middle East market is "tempting" and GSL's marketing teams have already put together a blueprint to tap these opportunities.

GSL's interest in exports is seen by defense officials as a huge revenue-generating opportunity. GSL has so far delivered close to 60 interceptor boats to marine police in India, and has the capability to turn out one vessel per week.

GSL is hoping to enter into a sustained partnership with the Indian Coast Guard for the repair and maintenance of vessels. It also wants to find prospective export customers for damage control simulators in addition to offshore patrol vessels.

It has a current order book close to Rs 2,000 crore ($429 million) and the company is expanding in phases. It is located at Vasco in the tourist-attracting state of Goa. There are some concerns over a shortage of land for expansion, and GSL has approached the Goa government for land to launch Rs 800-crore modernization plans. The first two stages are being taken up at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

Goa Shipyard Seeks To Export Patrol Vessels | AVIATION WEEK
 

wild goose

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Indian Warship Foils Somali Pirate Attack

NEW DELHI - An Indian warship on Sunday foiled an attempt by Somalian pirates to hijack merchant vessels off Somalia's coast in the Gulf of Aden, a navy spokesman said on Monday.

P.V.S. Satish said marine commandos on board the destroyer-class warship boarded a high-speed boat after it tried to close in on 12 merchant vessels including an Indian ship in the piracy-infested waters. The vessel, deployed in the Gulf of Eden on an anti-piracy mission since July, was escorting the flotilla when the rogue boat was spotted some 180 kilometers (112 miles) off the Somalian coast, Satish said.

"A cache of arms and several fuel drums and ship boarding equipment were found," the spokesman said in a statement issued from New Delhi, adding that seven Somalians and a Yemeni national on board the boat were disarmed. "This is the 16th piracy attack that has been prevented and not a single ship under escort of Indian navy has fallen prey to pirates," the statement added.

Piracy is a major problem off the coast of lawless Somalia and the horn of Africa, with heavily-armed militants hijacking commercial ships for ransom. An international flotilla of warships has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden, which is one of the world's busiest maritime routes.

Indian Warship Foils Somali Pirate Attack - Defense News
 

Parthy

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Indian Navy saves Thai national from pirates

On the evening of 04 December INS Krishna rescued a Thai national whilst on patrol about 350 nautical miles from Minicoy Island.

In response to reports of increase in incidents of pirate attacks in the Eastern Arabian sea, INS Krishna was deployed to patrol West of Lakshadweep Islands. INS Krishna located a Thai trawler named 'Prantalay 12"² which was being used as a mother ship, after having been hijacked several months ago.

On sighting INS Krishna the trawler started heading Westwards at maximum speed away from the islands. One of the Thai nationals held hostage on board was seen to be pushed into the sea. INS Krishna immediately rescued the Thai national and provided necessary medical aid. The Thai national has been brought back to Kochi for further formalities.

The trawler 'Prantalay 12"² is the second suspected mother vessel that was cleared from the Eastern Arabian Sea. It maybe recalled that an Indian Navy Ship had cleared MT Polar, another mother pirate vessel from this area a few days ago.



http://frontierindia.net/indian-navy-saves-thai-national-from-pirates
 

Parthy

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Indian Navy: Anti-Piracy Actions

India deploys 4 warships in Arabian Sea for anti-piracy missions

In wake of rise in incidents of piracy off the coast of Lakshadweep, the Indian Navy and Coast Guard have deployed at least four warships in the Arabian Sea and pressed into service aircraft for surveillance as part of efforts to check such incidents.

To deter the pirates from attempting any action in the region near Lakshadweep and Minicoy Islands, the two sea guarding agencies have decided to maintain sustained presence of four to five of their vessels in the Central Arabian Sea, Navy officials said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The step comes soon after pirates captured Bangladeshi merchant ship MV Jahan Moni on 5th December off the coast of India's Lakshadweep Islands on its way to Europe with 25 crew members and 41,000 tonnes of nickel ore on board.

Officials said the measures have been taken after it was observed that a piracy "hot spot" was emerging there with rise in such incidents.

The arrangement of stationing of ships including Naval frigates and Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) in the region would continue for a month and will come up for review after that period, they added.

The efforts to thwart piracy attempts in the Arabian Sea are in addition to the Indian warship deployments close to the Gulf of Aden to secure merchant vessels from the attacks of Somalian pirates there.

The ships present in the Arabian Sea would also help in securing the sealanes of communication connecting countries such as Seychelles, Maldives and other islands in the vicinity.

To enhance aerial surveillance in the region, the two forces would also press their Dornier reconnaissance aircraft into service.


http://frontierindia.net/india-deploys-4-warships-in-arabian-sea-for-anti-piracy-missions
 

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Indian Navy Nabs 61 Pirates After Intercepting Mother Ship

An Indian naval vessel has intercepted a pirate mother ship off India's west coast and captured 61 suspected Somali pirates in a daring mid-sea operation, reports said on Monday.

'Vega-5,' was intercepted by 'INS Kalpeni' some 600 nautical miles off the western coast in the Arabian sea and the operation also led to the release of Vega's 13-member crew held captive by the outlaws.

Vega-5 was located by a naval Dornier maritime recce aircraft on Friday after it responded to a distress call from another vessel 'MV Vancouver Bridge' under attack from pirates. But the outlaws tried to flee the area on seeing the naval aircraft. However, the Dornier continued to keep track of the pirate ship. In the meantime, INS Kalpeni and corvette Khukri deployed in the region on anti-piracy operations were ordered to intercept and investigate the fleeing vessel.

"INS Kalpeni closed in on Vega-5 on Saturday night. In the darkness, the pirate mother vessel launched two skiffs which fired at Kalpeni. The warship returned limited fire. Thereafter, it was observed that a fire had broken out on Vega-5," a Defense Ministry press release said.

The hostages and the captured pirates have been taken to the western Indian city of Mumbai and Kochi down the south. INS Kalpeni, the fast attack craft which successfully carried out the task, had been inducted into the Indian Navy only as recently as in October.
 

ace009

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EU asks India to co-chair anti-piracy group

The European Union has asked India to co-chair a key group that coordinates piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa, a position that China had been coveting as it seeks to bolster its presence in the Indian Ocean. But India is reluctant to accept it as it means a larger naval deployment that may not be feasible at the moment.

The offer was made during the visit of the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherin Ashton, to India last month.

'It was at the delegation level talks between Ashton and (External Affairs Minister) S.M. Krishna that the EU proposed that India could be made co-chair of SHADE,' a senior government official told IANS.

Publicly, Ashton had made it clear that her trip had been to solicit India's help in anti-piracy operations, but had not given any specific information on the cooperation required from India.

SHADE - or Shared Awareness and Deconfliction - was a forum established in December 2008 to coordinate activities between the countries and coalitions involved in military counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean region.

The waters off the coast of Somalia on the Horn of Africa had seen an astronomical rise in piracy attack in 2008 to 135, including seizure of 44 ships. With heavy military presence, the attacks have come down in 2010 to 67 incidents in the first three months, compared to 102 for the same period in 2009.

Based in Bahrain, SHADE, with 26 member nations and three coalitions, meets on a monthly basis. It is currently co-chaired by rotation between Coalition Maritime Forces, European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

When the offer was first made at the delegation-level talks, MEA officials had apparently not given it an enthusiastic reception.

The EU delegation was however persistent, with the offer again repeated at the meeting between Catherin Ashton and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

'It was the NSA who actually asked the MEA to take the suggestion seriously,' said a senior official.

An important member of the delegation was the EU chief of military staff, Lieutenant A.G.D. Van Osch, who had a separate meeting with the Indian naval chief, Admiral Nirmal Verma

The proposal is significant as it comes only a few weeks after the June 2 meeting of SHADE, when it seemed that China would become the co-chair of the international grouping.

Ranjit Rai, vice-president of the Indian Maritime Foundation, a Pune based think tank, had been an observer of the June 2 SHADE meeting, where he was witness to the Indian delegation's successful barricading of China's bid to become co-chair.

Since January, it was clear that China wanted to be chair of the group. It was expected that China would have a smooth path to the post.

'All the 17 delegates by turn gave their assent to China's membership. But, when it came to India, our representative objected saying that the terms of reference of the chairmanship had to be laid down,' Rai told IANS.

It took all the delegates by surprise. 'The chairman, NATO commander Adrain Vander Linde, was rather irritated and asked if India wants to become a co-chair,' he said.

But the Indian delegate insisted that the duties of the co-chair had to be spelled out clearly.

Two weeks later on June 22, Catherine Ashton came to Delhi with the formal offer to make India a co-chair.

China's expanded role had come after it agreed to have a permanent presence in a sector of the internationally recommended transit corridor, which are protected shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden. It had so far deployed three ships in escorting Chinese ships outside the internationally recommended transit corridor.

India is especially wary of China's enhanced role in SHADE, as it has publicly suggested that the region should be broken up for patrol for individual countries.

This would put a restriction on India's movement in the Indian Ocean, with Indian officials arguing that this would run foul of the United Nations Convention of Law of the Seas.

According to officials, India may find it difficult to accept the co-chair of SHADE, as it would mean enhancing the number of ships in the region, which may not be possible due to technical and political reasons. The Indian government had first taken the deployment of ships with reluctance in the first place.

India has only deployed one naval ship at a time in the transit corridor since October 2008 and has escorted over 1000 ships during the period, flying flags of different countries. It has also patrolled the extended economic zones of island nations like Seychelles, Mauritius and Maldives.

If GOI lets go of this chance and China increases it's presence/ importance in the IOR, then India will suffer in the long run. I cannot understand why the babus and Netas are so reluctant to take an international leadership role being handed to them on a platter. If you want to be a UN permanent Security Council member and an aspiring superpower, do your stuff at the international level.
In addition, what is this about "India is willing to send help" to Japan for Quake and Tsunami damage? Send help goddamn it. Japan sent help when India was affected by the IOR Tsunami - they did not announce this for a week before taking any action.
 

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Somali pirates keep 7 Indian hostages despite taking ransom

Mumbai/Mogadishu, Apr 16 (PTI) Somali pirates who took a multi-million dollar ransom for hijacked Indian freighter MT Asphalt Venture, have released eight of the 15 Indian crew members, but have kept the remaining seven as hostages in retaliation for the arrests of their men by the Indian navy.
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5123539
 

youngindian

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Hostage crisis: Navy diverts warship to Somalia
Published April 18, 2011

As Somalian pirates continue to hold seven Indian merchant sailors hostage, the Indian Navy, in what is a possible retaliatory posture, today diverted a warship from anti-piracy patrolling duties to station it off the coast of Somalia in North-eastern Africa.
http://idrw.org/?p=1565#more-1565
 

Parthy

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INS Godavari foils another hijack bid, saves Greek ship

Striking yet another blow against piracy, an Indian warship has thwarted an attempt to hijack a Greek merchant vessel Elinakos in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia.

The Indian Navy has foiled close to 35 piracy attacks over the last three years
, playing a major role in the ongoing international cooperation against the sea brigands off the African coast.

Incidentally, just before missile frigate INS Godavari foiled this latest pirate attack, it had escorted a Pakistani merchant vessel to Islamabad, with a crew of 38, safely through the strategic trade route last week.

What makes this interesting is that the very same INS Godavari was at the centre of the Indo-Pakistan diplomatic row last month after Pakistani warship PNS Babur violated all international navigational safety norms to brush against it in a bid to score brownie points in the MV Suez episode.

As for the latest incident, INS Godavari was escorting four merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden when she received the distress call from Elinakos early on July 16 morning.

"INS Godavari promptly launched a helicopter to locate the skiff being used by eight Somali pirates, who were attempting to hijack Elinakos. On being approached by the frigate, the pirates dumped their arms and ammunition into the water," said an official.

With a German warship Niedersachsen also taking part in the anti-piracy operation, a detachment of marine commandos from INS Godavari then boarded the pirate boat to "sanitize" it of "all piracy triggers".

INS Godavari alone has escorted 219 ships of different countries through the Gulf of Aden since May 25.

In all, since October 2008, Indian warships have ensured the safe passage of 1,665 ships — only around 190 of them flew the Indian flag — from around 50 countries through the piracy-infested Gulf of Aden.


INS Godavari foils another hijack bid, saves Greek ship - The Times of India
 

Virendra

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Incidentally, just before missile frigate INS Godavari foiled this latest pirate attack, it had escorted a Pakistani merchant vessel to Islamabad, with a crew of 38, safely through the strategic trade route last week.

Escorted to Islamabad ?? :eek:mg:
Yeah well they must've seen the shortest route from Karachi to Islamabad, will help us should the time ever arrive. Hail Indian Navy :hail: :hail:

Some people have no sense of geography :pound::pound:
 

Parthy

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Indian Navy re-captures hijacked MV Nafis-1

The Indian Navy on Monday successfully re-captured a hijacked Iranian vessel - MV Nafis-1 which had reportedly sailed from Chah Bahar in Iran to an undisclosed location in July. Navy Intelligence reports revealed that the ship was being used to smuggle weapons and contrabands.

The ill-fated vessel 'Nafis-I' was intercepted and all persons on board have been detained, officials said, adding it is not yet clear as to how many of them were pirates and crew members.

Two AK -47 rifles and a pistol concealed in an empty fuel tank of the ship have been found, they added.

Following intelligence inputs, the vessel was located by a naval maritime reconnaissance aircraft on August 12 in the high seas after which it was kept under continuous surveillance.

Subsequently, INS Mysore, a guided missile destroyer, was sent to intercept the hijacked vessel along with two helicopters and 24 marine commandos, the officials said.

The vessel was intercepted approximately 170 nautical miles, off west Mumbai after the Navy launched its operations.

The vessel is being towed to Porbandar, where the people on board will be handed over to the police, officials said.

The statements of those onboard have revealed that the vessel had left from Chah Bahar in Iran and had travelled to an undisclosed location in July after which it was intercepted by the Navy in the Arabian waters, they said.


Indian Navy re-captures hijacked MV Nafis-1 - India News - IBNLive
 

utubekhiladi

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EU seeks India out to fight piracy

The European Union has sought to draw the Indian Navy into its new Regional Maritime Capacity Building (RMCB) mission, aimed at building maritime capabilities of the Horn of Africa countries to fight piracy.

DNA has learnt the EU military staff (EUMS) has sought India's cooperation in strengthening the Horn of Africa region, comprising the coastal nations of Somalia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya.

At its headquarter in Northwood, the European Union Naval Force Somalia's (EUNAVFOR) operations commander, Rear Admiral Duncan L Potts told DNA that 25 warships belonging to various countries currently patrol the 2.5 million square miles of pirate-infested waters around the Horn of Africa.

"More warships will be a bigger deterrent," he said. "We are looking forward to India's assistance in convoy security coordination." The 27-member European Union launched EUNAVFOR-Atalanta in December 2008. It has so far arrested and transferred 117 suspected pirates for prosecution, and in 2011, disrupted 27 pirate action groups.

EUNAVFOR-Atlanta has been able to provide protection to vessels of the World Food Programme (WFP), providing food aid to displaced persons in Somalia, and escorted 155 WFP ships carrying about 900 tonnes of food to Somalia. The task force has safely escorted 126 ships of the African Union Mission in Somalia.
"We have witnessed 27 pirate attacks this year. We have caused nine disruptions. We were granted permission for extension of two more years to continue Operation Atalanta but we will be careful enough not to put our boots on ground there," the Rear Admiral said.

EUNAVFOR operates under UN Security Council resolutions, within the framework of the European Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and other international laws.

(The writer was in EU NAVFOR headquarters in London on an invitation from the European Union)

EU seeks India out to fight piracy - India - DNA
 

Kunal Biswas

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INS Tabar is one of the main ship of IN in Anti-Piracy Missions..



INS Tabar providing protection to MV Jag Arnav
 

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