All 21 crew, together with Indians, aboard the cargo ship, ‘MV Lila Norfolk’, that was hijacked late final night close to the coast of Somalia have been rescued and are protected, mentioned officers.

The Navy deployed a warship, maritime patrol plane, helicopters and P-8I and long-range plane and Predator MQ9B drones following the incident involving MV Lila Norfolk.

The elite commandos, MARCOS, sanitised the cargo ship and rescued the 15 Indians aboard the ship within the Arabian Sea. The commandos have confirmed the absence of hjijackers on the ship, mentioned the Navy in an announcement.

“All 21 crew together with 15 Indians onboard the vessel had been safely evacuated from the citadel,” Indian Navy’s spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal mentioned.

“Sanitisation by MARCOS commandos has confirmed the absence of the hijackers. The try of hijacking by the pirates was most likely deserted with the forceful warning by Indian Navy’s maritime patrol plane of interception by naval warship,” the spokesperson added.

The hijacking was reported by the UK Maritime Commerce Operations (UKMTO), a British navy organisation that tracks actions of varied vessels in strategic waterways.

Naval warship INS Chennai, a navy destroyer, that was diverted from its anti-piracy patrol, launched its helicopter and issued warning to pirates to desert the hijacked vessel.

Final month the Navy deployed a number of warships into the ocean to “keep a deterrent presence” after a string of current transport assaults, together with a drone assault close to India’s coast blamed on Iran by the USA.

The newest assault comes at a time when many vessels have been rerouted from the Pink Sea, the place Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have carried out drone and missile assaults in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the place Israel is battling Hamas.

Final month a drone assault hit the MV Chem Pluto tanker 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) off the coast of India.