The Indian navy said Friday it had intercepted an Iranian fishing boat in the Arabian Sea that had been seized by suspected Somali pirates. Two Indian ships boarded the FV Al Kamar 786, flying the Iranian flag, about 165 km southwest of the Yemeni island of Socotra, not far from the eastern tip of Somalia. An operation is
“currently underway by the Indian Navy to rescue the hijacked vessel and its crew
,” the Indian Navy said in a statement published on X.
According to the same source, nine armed pirates seized the ship. She did not say how many crew members were on board. The Indian Navy has operated off the coast of Somalia since 2008. It stepped up its anti-piracy efforts last year following a surge in attacks, notably in the Arabian Sea and by Yemen's Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, in the Red Sea.
This month, the Indian Navy freed the 19 crew members of the Maltese-flagged cargo ship MV Ruen, which was hijacked in December by Somali pirates. On Saturday, she brought 35 Somalis accused of being pirates back to Bombay to be tried in an Indian court.