The Indian Navy has rescued all 20 crew members of the Azini, an Iranian fishing vessel hijacked by armed pirates off Somalia, India's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. The operation lasted 48 hours and ended on Monday, November 2. No one was killed or injured, the ministry said, according to a Shabelle report carried by AllAfrica.
A warship backed by maritime surveillance aircraft located and tracked the vessel. The ministry said the navy used "calibrated non-kinetic measures" to stop it from escaping. Indian Marine Commandos, known as MARCOS, were then airdropped from an Indian Air Force C-17 transport plane. They boarded the boat, overcame the pirates and freed the hostages. The rescue took place more than 3,000 kilometres from Mumbai.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the forces involved. In a statement on X, he said the operation showed the navy's "high operational readiness and ability to respond decisively to maritime threats across the region." He added that it showed India's commitment to protecting seafarers and trade routes in the Indian Ocean.
According to the EU's Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO), pirates boarded the Azini on Thursday, October 29. The vessel was about 185 nautical miles east of Bandarbayla. A Puntland Maritime Police Force officer told The Associated Press that 12 pirates seized it. He said 23 people were on board: 21 Iranian crew and two Somali security guards, The Eastleigh Voice and Hiiraan Online reported. This differs from India's figure of 20 rescued crew, and the sources do not explain the gap.
MSCIO warned that the pirates could use the Azini as a "mother ship". Such a vessel serves as a mobile base for attacks on larger merchant ships beyond the range of speedboats. By October 31, the vessel had moved about 110 nautical miles further east, closer to a major shipping lane, Hiiraan Online reported. The EU's naval Operation Atalanta was investigating the hijacking.
The hijacking is part of a renewed wave of Somali piracy. Pirates hijacked six commercial ships between April and August, The Eastleigh Voice reported. In September, Puntland authorities said pirates had killed five crew members aboard the tanker MT Honour 25 before security forces recovered it. In August, Turkish and Somali forces freed the cargo ship MV LATUF and killed 14 pirates, Somalia's Defence Ministry said.
Shipping in the region already faces disruption linked to the Iran war and Houthi threats near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In September, The Associated Press reported that some oil shipments diverted around Africa faced journeys up to a month longer.