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Iranian fishing boat

Photo: Indian Navy / AFP

The Indian Navy and the Seychelles Navy have rescued two fishing boats from pirate control off the coast of Somalia. Navy vessels rescued 17 crew members of an Iranian fishing vessel and six crew members of a Sri Lankan vessel on Monday, according to both countries. Pirates had hijacked the fishing boats in different places.

After the number of pirate attacks off Somalia had fallen sharply since 2017, pirates boarded a ship for the first time last December.

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According to the director of the French Information Center for Maritime Cooperation (MICA), it is still too early to determine whether this is piracy of opportunity or whether there is a connection to the changing security situation in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

International naval forces have been deployed to more northern waters in response to attacks by Houthi rebels on cargo ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. However, the Indian and Seychelles navies remain active off the coast of Somalia.

The Indian warship INS Sumitra was patrolling the Gulf of Aden off the east coast of Somalia to combat piracy when it received a call for help from an Iranian fishing boat. The Indian Navy was able to free the crew members. She did not explain where exactly the incident took place or how the Indian Navy dealt with the pirates.

The Seychelles naval force, in turn, helped Sri Lankan fishermen around 840 nautical miles (1,555 kilometers) southeast of Somalia's capital Mogadishu. As the spokesman for the naval force announced, the six crew members were brought to safety and three pirates were arrested.

According to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), twelve percent of world trade passes through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Since the war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas began in early October, Yemen's pro-Iranian Houthi militia has repeatedly attacked cargo ships. The Houthis said they were attacking ships with ties to Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. Because of the Houthi attacks, container ships are currently avoiding the route.

mfh/AFP