Revolutionising Awareness

Fri, Jun 18 10:27 PM

New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) The Indian Navy Friday said it has so far safely escorted over 900 foreign ships in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden.

‘To date, the Indian Navy has escorted 1,037 ships, including 134 Indian flagged and 903 foreign flagged, across the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden,’ navy spokesperson Commander P.V.S. Satish said.

The navy ‘successfully’ escorted the 1,000th ship when INS Brahmaputra recently accompanied MV Borzna, a cargo vessel, Satish said,

‘The Indian Navy’s contribution to keeping the ‘global commons’ safe for merchant ships of as many as 50 countries who have availed the escort is significant. This, of course, is in addition to the anti-piracy patrols the (navy) undertakes in other island countries of the region,’ he said.

The Indian Navy has conducted anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since October 2008 by continuously maintaining at least one ship to escort merchant vessel convoys across the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the Gulf of Aden.

Recently INS Mysore took over as the 20th ship to undertake the anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.

The navy intends to continue maintaining a ship in the region to provide escort to merchant vessels sailing through the Gulf of Aden.