Indian Navy frees Iranian fishing vessel Azini seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia

Course of the operation

The Indian Navy has freed the Iranian fishing vessel Azini and its crew, which had been seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The Indian Ministry of Defence announced this, AP reports [Zamon.uz]. According to India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the operation ended on 2 November in the Arabian Sea, more than 3,000 kilometres from Mumbai, and lasted over 48 hours.

Fate of the pirates and the crew

During the operation, Indian forces disarmed 12 Somali pirates: their mobile phones were confiscated and the suspects themselves were released. A spokesman for the Puntland maritime police force told the Associated Press about this. According to him, the suspects and two Somali security officers later arrived in the town of Bosaso (Bandar Beyla) in north-eastern Somalia; three of those who came ashore had minor injuries.

Forces and circumstances of the seizure

The operation involved a warship, a maritime patrol aircraft and special naval forces; additional special units were airdropped into the area by a C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force. The vessel was seized on 29 October between the towns of Bandar Beyla and Hafun. Indian forces escorted it by sea and by air: according to officials, there were concerns that the pirates could use the Azini as a floating base for attacks on merchant ships.

Unclear details and context

There is a discrepancy in the figures for the number of people rescued: a Puntland representative had earlier reported that there were 21 members of the Iranian crew and two Somali security officers on board, whereas India said 20 crew members had been rescued. No explanation for this discrepancy has been given so far. It is also notable that the detained pirates were released rather than arrested after being disarmed — according to information conveyed by the Puntland representative to AP.

Situation in the region

The release of the Azini comes against the backdrop of a renewed surge in Somali pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean. According to the figures cited in the publication, by August pirates had seized six commercial vessels since April, and in September they killed five crew members of the tanker MT Honour 25, which had been held since April; later, security forces retook the tanker and detained 16 suspects. The rise in piracy, combined with security problems in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, creates an additional threat to international maritime trade and oil shipments.