Somali Pirates: Indian warship stops a hijack

Reported here:

Somali and Yemeni pirates' attempt to hijack for ransom Indian cargo vessels sailing off the Somalia coast was thwarted by an Indian warship, a navy spokesperson said here today.

INS Delhi, a guided missile destroyer, was assisting the merchant ships that were sailing through the Gulf of Aden when the armed sea brigands made the attempt on one of the 12 ships in the formation yesterday.

The pirates' boat was intercepted by the Indian warship that deployed a helicopter with marine commandos, who seized a cache of weapons and offloaded the fuel and left their boat adrift, the spokesperson said.

This was the 16th piracy attack on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden that was prevented by the Indian warships that have been deployed there since October 2008.

The attack took place in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC), described here as being:

4. THE IRTC EAST BOUND LANE BEGINS AT 045 EAST BETWEEN 11 48 NORTH AND 11 53 NORTH. THE LANE IS ORIENTED ALONG A STRAIGHT LINE COURSE OF 072 DEGREES AND TERMINATES AT 053 DEGREES EAST BETWEEN 14 18 NORTH AND 14 23 NORTH. THE IRTC WEST BOUND LANE BEGINS AT 053 DEGREES EAST BETWEEN 14 25 NORTH AND 14 30 NORTH. THE LANE IS ORIENTED ALONG A STRAIGHT LINE COURSE OF 252 AND TERMINATES AT 045 DEGREES EAST BETWEEN 11 55 NORTH AND 12 00 NORTH.

Map from here.