Indian Navy commandos have boarded a hijacked Liberian-flagged vessel in the Arabian Sea and are now carrying out "sanitisation" operations, the navy said on Friday, without elaborating. An Indian Navy warship intercepted the MV Lila Norfolk on Friday afternoon, less than a day after the navy received news that it had been hijacked off Somalia's coast in the North Arabian Sea. The Indian navy has increased its surveillance of the Arabian Sea after a recent spate of attacks in the region. The hijacking of commercial ships and attempted hijackings by suspected pirates near the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea regions resumed in December after a six-year lull. Earlier this week, the navy said it had investigated a large number of fishing vessels and boarded vessels of interest in the North and Central Arabian Sea.

Source: The Nation January 05, 2024 21:41 UTC