Posted on 03/27/2011 9:22:25 PM PDT by Sancho1984
NEW DELHI: The Navy is now going the whole hog against pirates daring to venture near Indian waters, in keeping with the new "proactive and aggressive measures" approved by the government. On Saturday, Indian warships sank yet another "pirate mother ship" around 400 nautical miles west of Lakshadweep Islands. With 16 pirates being nabbed in this latest operation in Arabian Sea, which also saw rescue of 12 Iranian and four Pakistani sailors held hostage, the total number of sea brigands apprehended by Navy has gone up to 120 over last two months. In the earlier three operations, the Navy had captured 104 pirates, who are now facing trial in Mumbai courts. The operation on Saturday began around 10am when a Tupolev-142M naval patrol aircraft spotted Morteza,an Iranian trawler being used as a "mother vessel after being hijacked by pirates, who had earlier made abortive bids to attack two merchant vessels MSC Eva and MV Kensington on March 23 and March 26. "With the aircraft locating Morteza, with skiffs in tow, offshore patrol vessel INS Suvarna and Coast Guard ship Sangram were sent to intercept it. The warships made repeated attempts to communicate with Morteza but to no avail," said an official. "INS Suvarna even warned Morteza to stop but it tried to escape and fired at the warship. INS Suvarna then returned limited fire, which disabled Morteza. Soon afterwards, people were seen abandoning it," he added. The 16 pirates and 16 sailors were then picked up from the waters by the Indian warships. "All of them are being taken to Mumbai and will be handed over to police for further investigations,'' he said. As reported by TOI earlier, the CCS has cleared new "rules of engagement (RoE)'' and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Indian warships to take the battle to the pirates in a far more aggressive manner than before, which even includes storming of hijacked merchant vessels of Indian-origin. WAR AT SEA: January 28: Indian warships sink Prantalay barely 100 nautical miles north of Minicoy Island. 15 pirates apprehended February 5: Indian warships seize Prantalay-11, with 28 pirates and 24 Thai fishermen hostage, 100 nautical miles off Kavaratti March 12: Indian warships sink Vega-5 around 600 nautical miles west of Indian coast. 61 pirates held,13 sailors rescued
“and ZerO has chosen to bow.” Does these mean you would rather that he spend our hard earned tax money on military operations that India seems ready, willing and able to perform effectively? We need for Europe to carry more of the burden of defending itself, rather than expecting us to do it, thereby enabling them to spend a lot more on social programs than we do. Bravo to India.
“and ZerO has chosen to bow.” Does these mean you would rather that he spend our hard earned tax money on military operations that India seems ready, willing and able to perform effectively? We need for Europe to carry more of the burden of defending itself, rather than expecting us to do it, thereby enabling them to spend a lot more on social programs than we do. Bravo to India.
Mrs. Clinton
I sure hope there are some Gurkhas in the Indian navy...
There are at least three posts glossing over the fact that in almost every event there are captives rescued with the pirates. I heartily approve of their present method of figuring out who’s who in the pirate scheme of things, and doing something about it. The next step would be to cruise into the prime Somali Pirate ports and rescue the many ships and sailors held captive.
At present, India has done far more than we, to inhibit piracy on the high seas, even though our citizens have been attacked and murdered by pirates in the region.
Looks like India wants to get to the bottom of this — it was a hijacked ship with its previous occupants still on board, so India took prisoners rather than sending all to Davy Jones’ Locker. Rather humane of India given that Iran is not exactly their best friend.
There are choices that do not fall to either extreme, but I’d rather that Obama bowed out than turn a joint operation into a massive snafu with his anti-Midas touch.
Proper response by legitimate authority.
Not a cruiser, but a destroyer. Specifically, the Arleigh
Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Ramage DDG-61.
But yeah, it would be cool going after the pirates with the Iowa class battleships. Like the old 80’s USS Iowa bumper sticker that showed the six forward guns pointing at you with the quote, “Go ahead....MAKE MY DAY!”
A “grizzly” death administered by sharks and not bears? I think you wanted “grisly”. :) Grammar Police will be by your place later.
Shoot ‘em till they sink.
If they float back to the surface...shoot ‘em again.
More power to the Indian Navy! Doing what Americans WON’T!
We have OUTSOURCED our counter-piracy efforts to India, it appears. Just like with American Express customer support! LOL.
“Ehhhhh, I didn’t hear anything...Go back to sleep...I got the damn midwatch!!!” ;-)
Applause for the Indian Navy!
It appears the mother ship was crewed by captured sailor hostages.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.