Mumbai: INS Visakhapatnam promptly responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel which came under a drone attack and caught fire in the Gulf of Aden.
According to Indian Navy, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) specialists from INS Visakhapatnam boarded the Marshall Islands-flagged MV Genco Picardy to inspect the damage.
Following MV Genco Picardy’s Mayday call at 11.11 pm on Wednesday, India’s guided missile destroyer intercepted the vessel under distress just an hour and a quarter later, at 12.30 am, the Navy said in a statement.
The entire crew of 22 persons, including 9 Indians, on the Marshall Islands-flagged ship is safe and the fire on board under control.
“Indian Naval EOD specialists from INS Visakhapatnam boarded the vessel in early hours of 18 Jan 24 to inspect the damaged area. EOD specialists, after a thorough inspection, have rendered the area safe for further transit. The vessel is proceeding to the next port of call,” Indian Navy said.
#IndianNavy‘s Guided Missile Destroyer #INSVisakhapatnam, mission deployed in #GulfofAden for #antipiracy ops, swiftly responded to 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 by Marshall Island flagged MV #GencoPicardy following a 𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠 at 2311 hrs on #17Jan 24 & intercepted the… pic.twitter.com/FOs5aAxLzV
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 18, 2024
It’s the latest incident in a series of drone and pirate attacks on merchant vessels in the region, including Red Sea and parts of Arabian Sea.
India-bound merchant vessels such as MV Chem Pluto and MV Saibaba came under attack last month following which Indian Navy stepped up surveillance by deploying task groups consisting of 10 warships.
