A big ship was taken over by bad men near Somalia in Africa. The ship is called MV Lila Norfolk. It belongs to the country Liberia. 15 Indian workers were on the ship. When this happened, the Indian Navy received information about it on Thursday evening.
The Indian Navy is carefully watching what is happening with the hijacked ship. Military leaders said they got news about it on Friday. Navy planes have been sent to watch the hijacked ship carefully. The Navy has talked to the ship successfully. This is important to understand what is happening and check that the Indian crew are okay.
The ship had sent a message on UKMTO (United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations) on Thursday night. It said about 5 or 6 unknown armed men had gotten on the ship. “Armed men” here means men with guns. The Indian Navy said this in a statement.
An Indian warship called INS Chennai is moving towards the hijacked ship. The Chennai will help deal with the situation, the navy added. “Naval aircraft continues to watch the ship’s movement. INS Chennai is going closer to the vessel to give help. The overall situation is being carefully watched together with other organizations/groups in the area,” the statement said.
Some details about the hijacking are not known yet. For example, who the bad men are is not clear now. Pirate attacks on ships in this area were very common between 2008 to 2013. But they reduced later because of teamwork between navies of different countries like India. But in the last few days, attacks have increased again which is worrying.
On January 1, pirates took control of another ship in the Arabian Sea. That ship was from Malta. It carried 18 crew including one from Bulgaria. He was injured by the pirates. The Indian Navy ship INS Kochi was sent quickly. It took the injured Bulgarian crew member to give him medical help. This showed how the Indian Navy works with others to help in such situations.
The hijacking of the Liberian ship happened days after the Maltese ship attack. This suggests pirate attacks are rising again in important waterways which many ships use. The Indian Navy will have to work carefully with other countries to ensure safety. Local people and sailors also need jobs so they do not turn to dangerous acts like piracy. More must be done to solve the roots of this problem.
In conclusion, the Indian Navy is closely monitoring the hijacked ship with 15 Indian crew to ensure their safety. It is ready to provide help and work with other countries to solve this issue. Constant monitoring and international cooperation are key to stopping such attacks and protecting valuable lives and trade in the important waters off Somalia.
