Pirates nabbed by the Navy in the Arabian Sea being brought on warship INS Tabar to Mumbai. Photo courtesy: Indian Navy
On Mar 11, 2011, Indian anti-piracy vessels received a distress signal from boxship "Vancouver Bridge”, which was coming under pirate attack in presumably, pos 1055N 06633E. Indian Navy Dornier aircraft located mother-ship of the group which attacked boxship, it was hijacked Mozambican fishing vessel “Vega 5”. On spotting the aircraft, the pirates abandoned their attack. Boxship Vancouver Bridge IMO 9292230, dwt 65002, capacity 4738 TEU, built 2005, flag Panama, manager K-Line.
Ecoterra Intl reports on further development:
“At 2100 hours on March 12, INS Kalpeni intercepted a pirate mother vessel called Vega 5 in the Arabian Sea about 600 nautical miles west of India. A total of 74 men have been apprehended of which 61 are suspected to be Somali pirates,” Indian navy spokesman P.V.S Satish said. A statement from the Indian navy reported its fast-attack craft, the INS KALPENI, directed “limited” fire on the vessel after being shot at. The operation had started last Friday when a naval Dornier aircraft located FV VEGA 5 while responding to a distress call from a merchant ship MV VANCOUVER BRIDGE in the area and foiled the piracy attempt, he said.
"Seeing the naval aircraft, the pirates immediately aborted their piracy attempt and the vessel used as piracy launch attempted to escape from the area. Simultaneously, INS KHUKRI and KALPENI were diverted to intercept and investigate," the spokesperson said. After INS Kalpeni closed in on FV VEGA 5, the pirate vessel launched two skiffs attacking the Indian Navy ship with fire arms, he said.
"INS Kalpeni responded with limited firing and, thereafter, it was observed that a fire had broken out on Vega 5 and its personnel were seen jumping overboard," he said. Later on, INS Kalpeni in conjunction with INS Khukri found 74 personnel comprising 61 pirates and 13 crew members of the fishing vessel.
So far it is clear that only a total of 13 crew-fishermen on board the Mozambique-flagged, Spanish-owned fishing vessel FV VEGA 5 were rescued.
The incident occurred allegedly 690 miles from the west coast of India, but a Indian navy spokesman stated it happened in Indian waters. India, like Somalia and other coastal states, has a 200nm Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is calculated from the farest island of a country's territory. The Indian navy did not provide an exact position, though. The Lakshadweep group of islands in the southeast portion of the Arabian Sea
Already fifteen suspected pirates — 12 Somalis, two Ethiopians and a Kenyan — face trial in India on charges including attempted murder after they were caught in January from one of the captured FV Prantalay vessels.
Analysts fear for hostage crew
Observers stated that over 50% of the 24 men crew of the fishing vessel are not accounted for by the Indian navy and from the naval reporting it is not clear if there were any casulaties. Analysts fear the worst for them and believe that some might have been killed in the incident, while it is also known that at least one part of the crew - the two Spanish nationals - is being held back in Somalia as hostages and safeguards against such an eventual arrest of the pirates. Indian naval sources admitted they were informed before their attack that most likely not all crew were on board and some were held hostage back in Somalia, when the vessel left aroun 10 days ago. According to other naval sources the FV VEGA 5 is still floating and is apparently pulled by the Indian Navy to safety. "Naval ships and aircraft are presently in the area searching for any other fishermen or pirates," the Indian navy said and that after the operation, the apprehended pirates and the Vega-5 were being brought to Mumbai for further investigations.
Vega-5 background:
The Mozambican flagged Fishing Vessel VEGA 5, which was previously reported missing by her owner, is confirmed as being pirated in the waters between Mozambique and Madagascar. On 31 December, the vessel was spotted near the Mozambique coast, approximately 200 nautical miles South West of the Comoros Islands, heading north. The vessel was towing what looked to be a pirate attack skiff and did not respond to any calls. There has been no further communication with the vessel.
The FV VEGA 5 has a displacement of 140 tonnes and a length of 24 meters. The nationalities of the 24 crew are 2 Spaniards (the captain and the boatswain are Galician), 3 Indonesians and 19 Mozambicans.