Indian Navy's marine commandos on Friday, January 5, boarded a hijacked Liberian-flagged commercial bulk vessel in the North Arabian Sea and are undertaking a sanitisation operation, Navy officials said. The Navy deployed a warship, maritime patrol aircraft P-8I and long-range Predator MQ9B drone in response to the hijacking of the commercial vessel MV Lila Norfolk, which is understood to have over a dozen Indian crew members.
Frontline warship INS Chennai was diverted from her anti-piracy patrol, and it intercepted the hijacked vessel at 3:15 pm in the North Arabian Sea, said Navy officials. The vessel was kept under continuous surveillance using maritime patrol aircraft P8I and Predator MQ9B drones, the officials said to news agency PTI. "The Indian Navy's marine commandos present onboard the mission deployed warship boarded the merchant vessel and have commenced the sanitisation operation," said an official. MV Lila Norfolk sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) portal indicating that five to six unknown armed personnel boarded the vessel on Thursday evening.
Earlier, the Navy said the overall situation is being "closely monitored" in coordination with other regional maritime agencies. The hijacking incident comes amid growing concerns over Houthi militants stepping up attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.