In de strijd tegen de piraterij rond Somalië heeft de Indiase marine op 18 november een primeur gescoord: voor het eerst is een piratenschip de grond in geboord.  Het fregat Tabar had een verdacht schip in de Golf van Aden gemaand te stoppen voor inspectie, waarop de piraten het vuur openden. Het fregat schoot terug; er brak vuur uit op het piratenschip en er werden explosies gehoord.

Het ging om een zogeheten ‘moederschip’ van piraten waarmee zij honderden zeemijlen uit de kust kunnen opereren.  Het enteren en kapen van schepen gebeurt met kleinere speedboats die vanaf het moederschip opereren.  Op 11 november had de Tabar al twee pogingen tot kaping verijdeld, ondermeer door het inzetten van commando’s per helikopter.  Onderstaand de officiële verklaring van de Indiase marine:

Anti Piracy Action at High Seas 
11:52 IST
INS Tabar, which is currently in the Gulf of Aden for Anti-Piracy Surveillance and Patrol Operations, encountered a pirate vessel, 285 NM South West of Salalah (Oman) on the evening of 18 Nov 08, with two speed boats in tow. This vessel was similar in description to the ‘Mother Vessel’ mentioned in various Piracy bulletins.

INS Tabar closed the vessel and asked her to stop for investigation. On repeated calls, the vessel’s threatening response was that she would blow up the Naval Warship if it closed her. Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and Rocket Propelled Grenade launchers. The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar.

On being fired upon, INS Tabar retaliated in self defence and opened fire on the mother vessel. As a result of the firing by INS Tabar, fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored on the vessel. Almost simultaneously, two speed boats were observed breaking off to escape. The ship chased the first boat which was later found abandoned. The other boat made good its escape into darkness.

INS Tabar is on Anti-Piracy Mission in the Gulf of Aden since 02 Nov 08. The operation is being controlled by Western Naval Command since mid Oct 08. During this period, she has successfully escorted approximately 35 ships, including a number of foreign flagged vessels, safely during their transit through pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden and also prevented two hijacking attempts on 11 Nov 08. The Indian Navy has been patrolling the piracy infested water in keeping with the Government guidelines to protect our sea borne trade, instill confidence in our sea faring community as well as function as a deterrent for pirates.

(Bron: http://mod.nic.in/)