The fire was brought under control after six hours.
New Delhi:
A team from the Indian Navy successfully extinguished a massive blaze on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday night. The vessel, named Marlin Launda, had been struck by a missile. There were 22 Indians and one Bangladeshi national on board the oil tanker.
Following a distress call, INS Visakhapatnam, an Indian Navy warship, promptly responded and dispatched a team of 10 naval personnel equipped with specialist firefighting equipment to assist the vessel. After six hours of battling the fire alongside the crew of the MV Marlin Launda, the fire was successfully brought under control. The situation is currently being monitored to ensure there is no reignition. The US and French warships also responded to the vessel’s distress call, offering support.
Captain Abhilash Rawat of the merchant vessel expressed gratitude towards the Indian Navy for their assistance, stating, “I thank Indian Navy warship INS Visakhapatnam. We had lost all hope of fighting this fire. Hats off to Indian Navy whose experts came onboard to fight the fire. Indian Navy went out of the way to help us.”
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that the missile strike on the UK-owned vessel was conducted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The group has been targeting merchant vessels in the Red Sea during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
This is the second incident involving Indian crew members being targeted. On January 18, INS Visakhapatnam had responded to another distress call by a merchant vessel attacked by drones. The Liberian-flagged MV Chem Pluto, with 21 Indian crew members, was the victim of a drone attack off India’s west coast on December 23.
In a recent incident, the Indian Navy played a crucial role in extinguishing a fire on a merchant ship that had been hit by a missile. The vessel was carrying 22 Indian crew members at the time of the attack. Promptly responding to the distress call, the Indian Navy swiftly deployed resources and expertise to the scene, successfully putting out the fire and preventing further damage. This timely assistance from the Navy ensured the safety and well-being of the crew members onboard. The incident highlights the Navy’s commitment to safeguarding Indian citizens and protecting merchant ships in times of crisis.
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