Agencies

New Delhi, Nov 19: Even as the world's largest supertanker the Saudi Sirius Star continues to be in the grip of pirates of the coast of Somalia, the Indian navy appears to have taken the lead in the fight against pirates.

After a successful operation against pirates last week when the Indian navy warship INS Tabar sank a Somalian pirate ship of the Gulf of Aden, at about 10 pm last night the navy spotted another pirate ship; it challenged the pirate ship which had several speed boats accompanying it, according to TV channel Times Now.

The pirate’s ship tried to ram the Tabar at which point the Tabar opened fire. No casualties have been reported on the Indian side.

The stealth frigate successfully repulsed the attack by the pirates and sunk their ship, an official said here on Wednesday.

“The pirates fired at INS Tabar, which is patrolling the waters off the Somali coast. The ship retaliated and sank the pirate vessel,” a navy official said.

Meanwhile the Sirius Star has anchored off the coast of Somalia in Eyl, even as pirates took over another Iranian-operated cargo vessel with a Hong Kong flag ‘Delight’. US navy commander Jane Campbell of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said the status of the crew and cargo was not known. There are some Indians among the 25-member crew.

In the first-ever action after being deployed in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian navy on November 11 thwarted an attempt by pirates to capture an Indian merchant vessel in the region. The ship, M V Jag Arnav, had recently crossed the Suez Canal and was eastward bound when it was surrounded by pirates, who tried to board and hijack the ship, navy sources in New Delhi said.

When the 38,265-tonne bulk carrier, owned by Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company, raised an alarm, it caught the attention of the Indian naval warship, INS Tabar, which was patrolling in the Gulf of Aden waters.