Indian warship wards off another attack by pirates

An Indian warship has warded off another attack by pirates on merchant vessels carrying 40 Indians among its crew in the south of Yemen, the Navy said on Thursday.

INS Delhi, a guided missile destroyer, was escorting six merchant vessels with 147 crew members, including 40 Indians on board, on Wednesday when a dhow was spotted approaching the formation at a high speed.

The formation escorted by INS Delhi was sailing along the International Recommended Transit Corridor, 108 km away from the south Yemeni coast, when the sea brigands made the attempt on the merchant vessels nearly at 10 am.

The warship launched its marine commandos, who intercepted and boarded the dhow. The commandos found a cache of arms including a 7.62 mm rifle, six rocket propelled grenades and ammunition on the dhow.

 "This is the fourth such action by INS Delhi, three of which were taken in the last four days," a navy spokesperson said.

INS Delhi had warded off similar attacks on September 5, 12 and 13 earlier this month. Since the Navy started its operations against pirates in the Gulf of Aden in October 2008, this is the 18th attack that was prevented by Indian warships.