Indian Navy Foils Piracy Attempt, Rescues ‘Lord Mountbatten’

Prompt action from the Navy foiled a piracy plan in Gulf of Eden

INS Sharda foils piracy attempt at Gulf of Eden. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@SpokespersonNavy)

Indian Navy on Tuesday rescued Lord Mountbatten in the Gulf of Eden. In this case, it was not the Lord Mountbatten from history but the ship MV Lord Mountbatten.

At 4:45 am, the cargo ship was in the South-West of Salalah (in the Arabian Sea), it reported an incident of attempted piracy by two dhows assisted by around eight skiffs.

According to a media release, INS Sharda – which has been deployed in the Gulf of Eden since April to scout for pirates – was 30 nautical miles (nm) east of the vessel’s position. INS Sharda responded to the distress call immediately and arrived at the location within two hours.

INS Sharda foils piracy attempt at Gulf of Eden. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@SpokespersonNavy)

The INS’ MARCO team investigated the dhows and skiffs with the help of armed Chetak choppers. The lack of any fishing gears on-board the smaller vessels indicated malicious intent.

Three vessels sped away on sighting the warship. However, weapons and ammunition along with one high calibre AKM rifle was confiscated to prevent misuse in the future.

So that’s how prompt action from INS Sharda saved the day, and a ship with a special name!