Commandos from the Indian Navy special operations forces are on board the Liberian-flagged bulker LILA NORFOLK (IMO: 9281700). The ship drifted about 300 nautical miles (555 kilometers) southeast of the Yemeni island of Socotra around 12:20 p.m. local time on Friday. The Indian Navy sent a warship to the area after the bulker was attacked by pirates on Thursday.
А representative of Dubai-based “Kyra Global Marine Services”, the operator of LILA NORFOLK, said that there were no pirates on board the ship when the commandos boarded. The crew of the ship was unharmed.
India announced an increase in its naval presence in the Arabian Sea after the hijacking of m/v RUEN controlled by a Bulgarian company.
Satellite data analyzed by Maritime.News indicate that there was an Iranian fishing vessel in the area of the alleged pirate attack on LILA NORFOLK. Several fishing boats flying the flag of Iran were also in the area where the RUEN was hijacked. RUEN is currently near Eyl (Ilig).
Pirates recently hijacked a fifth dhow fishing boat in the waters off Somalia. Maritime security experts warned that the hijacked small vessels are likely to be used in subsequent pirate attacks.
The resurgence of piracy in Somalia is a worrying sign for international security and shipping and comes against the backdrop of attacks against commercial ships carried out by the Yemeni group “Ansar Allah”.
On December 14, 2023, an armed pirate group boarded the m/v RUEN (IMO: 9754903). The 18-member crew of the ship (8 Bulgarians, 9 Myanmars and 1 seafarer from Angola), evacuated to the citadel. A day later, on December 15, the pirates managed to take control of the ship. Under the control of the kidnappers, RUEN made a transition to the northern shores of Puntland, and later anchored off the eastern shores of Bari province, Somalia. The pirates allowed the medical evacuation of a crew member.
