Indian Navy Captures 28 Pirates and Mother Ship

On Sunday, the Indian Navy and coast guard captured a pirate’s mother ship, PRANTALAYA 11, and the 28 pirates onboard after a gunfight.

The ship was captured 100 nautical miles off the coast of Lakshadweep near Kavaratti.

The day before, pirates attacked the Greek oil tanker, MT CHIOS, but the vessel managed to get away. Officers onboard the tanker alerted authorities of the attack and the mother ship’s location. The INS Tir, which was already deployed to the region, was sent to track the ship.

Using a Dornier aircraft the Indian Navy spotted the pirate skiff and the mother vessel, Saturday night. Early Sunday morning the Navy vessel, INS Tir and the coast guard vessel, CGS Samar, closed in on the mother vessel, commanding it to surrender. Pirates on the skiffs opened fire at the two vessels and naval officers returned fire. Pirates onboard the mother ship eventually raised a white flag to symbolize their surrender. Five pirates were injured during the gunfight.

Twenty-eight in total were captured. The Indian Navy rescued the 24 Thai fisherman being held hostage onboard the mother ship. The Thai fishing vessel was hijacked 6 months ago off the coast of Somalia; pirates had been using the trawler as a mother ship since then.
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Photos courtesy of the Indian Navy