Porbandar, 15 August, 2011

The Indian Navy today towed the 500-tonne intercepted cargo ship M.V. Nafis-I to Porbandar port of Gujarat. The ship and the crew members five Yemenis, two Tanzanians, one Somali and one Kenyan on board are to be handed over to the local police. Different agencies will further investigate into the ship’s origins, its movements close to the Indian shores and also the crew which will reveal whether the ship was hijacked and used for smuggling contraband.

The ship was drifting for the past three weeks in the Arabian Sea and had been sighted moving suspiciously around 250 nautical miles in the Arabian Sea by an Indian Navy aircraft on August 12 which alerted the shore authorities after which it was put under surveillance by a naval aircraft and the destroyer, INS Mysore.

Late Sunday night, the ship was intercepted by INS Mysore at around 170 nautical miles off Mumbai coast. Braving rough weather and upto 14 feet tall waves, the navy’s elite Marine Commandos (MARCOS) landed on the ship from two helicopters. Surprised crewmen didn’t resist and surrendered immediately.

A search of the ship has reportedly revealed an unspecified quantity of automatic weapons on board.