India,French Navies rescue hijacked Indian dhow off Somalian coast
By chennaivision at 16 July, 2009, 5:57 pm
New Delhi, A joint effort by Indian and French navies off the Somalian coast today led to the release of an Indian dhow ‘M V Nafeya’, with 14 Indians on board, after five days in captivity of Somalian pirates off Boosaaso, Somalia.
While all members of the dhow are safe, the pirates escaped, according to Defence Ministry sources here.
”The dhow, registered in Porbandar (Gujarat) but operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was now on its way to Al Mukkalla in Yemen.” M V Nafeya, on way to Dubai from Somalia, was hijacked on July 10 off Boosaaso in Somalia’s north-eastern semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
It was rescued after two days of coordination between French and Indian warships patrolling in the region, during the rescue of another ship — a Liberian tanker — by a French warship belonging to the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) on July 13.
Soon the captured dhow was tracked by the naval ships of both countries, forcing the hijackers to abandon it today at 0300 hrs and flee in their skiffs (small boats).
During tracking, the pirates even threatened to kill the 14 hostages on board Nafeya if search attempts by the warship staff persisted.
”However, when cornered by both warships they abandoned the Indian dhow and fled, but not before they had skimmed the crew of all their valuables.” Later, the Indian warship personnel boarded the dhow and provided food and medical assistance to them for their onward journey.
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