PIRATES do not win every encounter. On the evening of Tuesday November 18th an Indian warship attacked and destroyed a suspected Somali pirate boat in the Gulf of Aden, after the men on board had, reportedly, threatened to blow up the Indian craft. The pirates were said to be armed with guns and rocket-grenade launchers, and some escaped on speed boats. On the same day, however, other pirates in the Gulf of Aden did manage to grab a cargo ship carrying grain to Iran.
One thing the qoute above does not make clear is that the ship the Indians sunk was a mother ship that the Pirates where using to extend their range. The Danger Room has more on the Indian ship that blew up the pirate mother ship …..
This is the Tabar’s third pirate fight in a little more than a week. On November 11th, the frigate received a “frantic distress call from Saudi Arabian chemical and oil carrier NCC Tihama,” the Times of India reports. “Tihamas’ call said two to three high-speed boats, with several armed men, were trying to hijack the ship.”
The post goes on to relate how they received another distress call while they were in the process of rescuing the Saudis.
By my reckoning the INS Tabar has done more to combat pirates then the rest of the international anti piracy fleet put together. Is this because they are doing something right or did they just get lucky?
Edit: The Christian Science Monitor points out that this fight is more personal for Indian then most of the other nations that have ships in the area. They say….
While warships from eight different countries, including India, have deployed to the Gulf of Aden to combat piracy, the issue is particularly important for India.
The nation of 1.1 billion people provides one-sixth of the world’s maritime workers and every month it sends 30 Indian-owned vessels carrying oil and other goods valued at $100 billion through the Gulf of Aden.
Indian shipping firms say they are losing $450,000 a month on cost overruns and delays due to piracy.
“India cannot wait to take action until the Somali pirates hit the coast of Bombay [Mumbai],” says Mr. Bhaskar. “They must be quarantined in their own waters before they cause more damage.”
For most western nations, these attacks are no big deal because they don’t ship much through the Gulf of Aden. Most of the ships the pirates have seized have been going to Asia, Africa, or the Middle East. Maybe India cares more about stopping the pirates then the other nations do.