In a high voltage drama unfolding in the high seas, Indian naval warship INS Chennai reached the hijacked vessel MV Lila Norfolk off Somalia coast on Friday and issued a warning to the pirates on board to abandon the vessel, military officials told ANI.
The Iranian-backed Houthis attacked a merchant vessel, MAERSK HANGZHOU and US Navy helicopters in the southern Red Sea on Sunday and attempted to board the vessel, US Central Command said.
After recent attacks on merchant vessels off the Indian coast, the Navy has deployed task groups comprising 'destroyers' and 'frigates' to have a complete maritime domain awareness in the region, officials said on Sunday.
Speaking to ANI about the newly commissioned warship, the Navy Chief said, "The name Imphal is very significant. This is the first time we are naming a major warship after a city in the Northeast of Bharat."
"Named the capital of Manipur, she is the first warship to represent a prominent city of north-east Bharat, aptly highlighting the importance attached by the government to this region," Admiral Kumar said.
Meanwhile, the MV Chem Pluto, (Liberian Flag Chemical/lOil Tanker), carrying 21 Indian and 01Vietnamese crew reached Mumbai and anchored safely at Outer Anchorage off Mumbai at 1530hr on 25 Dec 23.
The event marks the formal induction into the Navy of the third of four 'Visakhapatnam' class destroyers, indigenously designed by the Indian Navy's in-house organisation, Warship Design Bureau and constructed by Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai.
Following a drone attack on two vessels in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthi militants, which included MV SAIBABA, a crude oil tanker; the Indian Navy on Sunday said all 25 Indian crew members on board are safe, clarifying that it wasn't an India-flagged vessel, as claimed by the US e
Indian Navy warship INS Mormugao reached MV Chem Pluto, the India-bound merchant vessel, which was 'attacked' by an Iranian drone, on Saturday night and ascertained details of the attack, officials informed on Sunday.
Two warships, including an India-flagged, Gabon-owned tanker, came under Houthi fire in the Red Sea, according to official statements from the US Central Command.
At least five labourers were gunned down in the Shin Warsak neighbourhood of South Waziristan in Pakistan by unknown assailants, ARY News reported on Friday.