New Delhi: After one of its fast attack
craft sunk a pirate mother ship near Lakshadweep, Navy Chief
Admiral Nirmal Verma on Monday said his force will continue to
carry out "heavy patrolling" against pirates there.
"We have already put in very heavy patrolling as far
as our waters are concerned and that is the reason why this
pirate ship could be tackled...This effort would continue," he
told reporters here.
Last week, a Naval Fast Attack Craft (FAC) sunk a pirate
mothership named 'Prantalay' 75 miles off Lakshadweep saving
the 20-member crew of the hijacked vessel on-board and
arrested 15 pirates from it.
To thwart any piracy attempts around Lakshadweep, the
Coast Guard along with the Navy has launched the Operation
Island Watch along the Lakshadweep Islands.
Noting that the joint Coast Guard and Navy patrols were
keeping a strict vigil there, he said, "That is why it just
did not carry out an attack and escape and that is why in good
time, we could detect it and take action."
In the recent past, activities of pirates around
Lakshadweep have increased and they were also successful in
hijacking a Bangladeshi-flagged merchant vessel about 90
nautical miles off Kochi and 80 nautical miles off Minicoy.
As part of its efforts to counter piracy and enhance
coastal security, last month a Coast Guard district
headquarters was commissioned in Kavaratti along with a
station in Minicoy, both in the Lakshadweep Islands.
Due to this spurt in pirate activity, the Navy had
deployed its warships along with Coast Guard vessels in the
central Arabian sea.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 01, 2011, 00:23