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Indian warship responds to Mayday call by missile-hit vessel in Gulf of Aden
Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists on Friday fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the oil tanker Marlin Luanda
India’s guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam on Saturday responded to a distress call made by a merchant vessel that caught fire after a missile attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Gulf of Aden, with the incident putting the spotlight on the worsening security situation in one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, officials aware of the matter said.
The Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker MV Marlin Luanda was struck by the Houthi rebels on Friday, the latest in a series of attacks on commercial shipping in the region including the Red Sea and parts of the Arabian Sea, the officials said. It is operated by UK-based Oceonix Services.
“Based on a request from MV Marlin Luanda, INS Visakhapatnam has deployed its NBCD (nuclear biological chemical defence and damage control) team along with firefighting equipment to render assistance to the crew towards augmenting firefighting efforts on board the distressed MV,” the Indian Navy said in a statement on Saturday.
The vessel’s crew includes 22 Indians and one Bangladeshi.
The Mayday call was sent out by the vessel on Friday night, the navy said.
READ | ‘Had lost hopes but…’: Captain of merchant vessel thanks Navy for swift response to distress call
Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists on Friday fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the oil tanker Marlin Luanda, the US Central Command said in a statement.
“The ship issued a distress call and reported damage. USS Carney (DDG 64) and other coalition ships have responded and are rendering assistance. No injuries have been reported at this time,” the US statement added.
The US Central Command later said its forces conducted a strike against a Houthi anti-ship missile aimed at the Red Sea and which was prepared to launch.
“US Forces identified the missile in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, and determined it presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region. US Forces subsequently struck and destroyed the missile in self-defense. This action will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy vessels and merchant vessels,” the US Central Command said in another statement.
Another Marshall Islands-flagged merchant vessel, which was recently attacked by a drone in the Gulf of Aden, docked at the Tuticorin port in Tamil Nadu on Friday after the Indian Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) specialists undertook a thorough examination of the ship and declared it safe for port entry.
INS Visakhapatnam had on January 18 responded to a distress call made by MV Genco Picardy after it was attacked. It was carrying a crew of 22, including nine Indians.
The navy has stepped up surveillance in the troubled region substantially and deployed task groups consisting of around 10 warships in the face of the recent attacks on India-bound merchant vessels including MV Chem Pluto and MV Saibaba in December.
The drone attack on MV Chem Pluto took place around 220 nautical miles south-west of Porbandar, while the other vessel was targeted in the southern Red Sea.
The Houthi rebels have been targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea with missiles and drones after the Israel-Hamas conflict began on October 7. Several shipping companies have suspended their operations in the Red Sea following the Houthi attacks, which have forced mariners to change course and take longer routes around the southern tip of Africa.
The attacks on commercial shipping in and around Red Sea were the focus of discussions between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on January 15, with the Indian minister flagging concerns about the increase in threats to maritime traffic in the region including attacks in the vicinity of the Indian coast.
The growing threats to commercial shipping in the region were also discussed during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in India for the Republic Day celebrations.
“They also expressed grave concern at the possibility of further expansion of the conflict in the region, including in the Red Sea, which already has a significant economic impact in the world. They recalled the utmost importance of upholding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and of respecting the international law of the sea,” the two sides said in a joint statement on Friday.
“The potential disruptions and the actual things happening in the maritime domain there (Red Sea), which is causing disruption to the commercial shipping is indeed a matter of serious concern and both leaders focused on it,” foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Friday.
