Somalia: Indian Navy Frees Iranian Fishing Vessel Hijacked Off Somalia

What the report says

Indian naval forces rescued 20 crew members from an Iranian fishing vessel hijacked by armed pirates off Somalia, according to India’s defence ministry, as reported by Horn Diplomat and distributed by AllAfrica. The vessel, identified as the Azini, was reportedly seized on October 29 off Somalia’s eastern coast. The rescue operation took more than 48 hours and ended without casualties or injuries, the ministry said.

The report says India used a warship and a maritime reconnaissance aircraft to locate and track the vessel. Additional marine commandos were then deployed by a precision airdrop from an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft before naval forces secured the fishing boat. The European Union’s Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean separately confirmed that anti-piracy forces had freed the vessel and later said the incident was closed.

The episode highlights continuing maritime security concerns near Somalia, a region long associated with piracy risks affecting commercial and fishing traffic. An earlier alert had warned that the vessel was nearing a shipping lane and could potentially be used as a base for further pirate attacks, though no such attacks were confirmed in the report. There was also some discrepancy in the number of people on board, with earlier reporting citing 23 people while India’s statement referred to 20 crew members.