Indian Navy swiftly responded to a distress call from the Gulf of Aden where a merchant vessel caught fire after being hit by a missile, and rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national. The Indian Navy informed in a statement today that its naval warship, INS Kolkata swiftly acted against Wednesday’s maritime incident and all the crew members were safely evacuated to Djibouti.
As per the Navy, Barbados Flagged Bulk Carrier MV True Confidence was reportedly hit by a drone/ missile approximately 55 nautical miles south west of Aden, resulting in a fire onboard and critical injuries. INS Kolkata, deployed for Maritime Security Operations arrived at the scene of action and rescued 21 crew members.
According to reports, Houthi rebels from Yemen, who have been attacking these seas repeatedly to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, launched missile attacks on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, killing three crew members and wounding four more.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) informed on the social media platform X that an anti-ship ballistic missile was fired on the Barbados-flagged merchant vessel MV True Confidence from the Houthi areas of Yemen, which are backed by Iran.
The latest incident happened only two days after the INS Kolkata’s firefighting team escorted the merchant vessel, MSC Sky II, with a crew of 23 (including 13 Indians), to safety. India is not part of a US-led multinational coalition in the area but has been independently assisting ships in distress.
When a commercial ship transporting oil from Saudi Arabia to Mangalore was attacked by a drone in December 2023, around 217 nautical miles off the coast of Porbandar, the Red Sea crisis struck close to home. After more of these instances were recorded in the Arabian Sea, the Navy made the decision to station more warships in the area. As of right now, the Indian Navy has deployed 10 to 12 warships, including destroyers and frigates, throughout the Indian Ocean region to combat attacks and piracy attempts by the Houthi rebels, who have been interfering with the passage of trade ships via the Red Sea.
