10-28-2009, 03:43 PM
From Night watch, 27 Oct., 2009
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India-Somali anti-pirate patrol: The Indian Navy has decided to deploy two ships in the Indian Ocean to counter threats from Somali pirates, the Indian Express reported 27 October. <b>According to unidentified sources, the ships will take up duty stations near Mauritius and the Seychelles.</b> <i>Means uncle's sources. See below about rpvs and USN in the area.</i>
Navy Captain Manohar Nambiar told the press that the Indian Navy has a presence in the region devoted to surveillance that is separate from the Navy ship already patrolling the Gulf of Aden. The guided missile frigate INS Trishul operates with international maritime forces off Aden.
<b>The two warships bound for the Seychelles </b>are the naval amphibious ship INS Shardul and Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel Varuna, which were originally on a "routine training and surveillance mission'' to the waters near Seychelles. Both have naval cadets aboard, but <b>are responding to a Seychelles request to prolong what was a training mission.</b>Â
Somali <b>pirate depredations near Mauritius and the Seychelles this summer afford India a legitimate cover</b> for maintaining a naval presence off the coast of Africa. <b>These deployments will provide India situational awareness in the western Indian Ocean, serving a purpose similar to Indiaâs base in the Andaman Islands at the mouth of the Malacca Strait in the eastern Indian Ocean. The Indians take seriously the name of the Ocean. Plus, they get to work with US navy remotely piloted aircraft and support crews in the Seychelles.</b>
Nevertheless, according to the Times of India, the External Affairs and Defence Ministries are considering several options for combating piracy off the Seychelles. <b>The government has not decided whether it should approve a "prolonged continuous deployment of Indian warships in those waters, like the ongoing one in the Gulf of Aden. â</b>
According to the Times, <b>in the last 12 months, Indian Navy ships have escorted 644 merchant ships across the 490 nautical mile-long "internationally recommended transit corridor'' in the Gulf of Aden, thwarting 13 piracy attempts since October 2008. India's annual imports through the Gulf of Aden are valued at $50 billion, while exports are estimated at $60 billion.</b>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India-Somali anti-pirate patrol: The Indian Navy has decided to deploy two ships in the Indian Ocean to counter threats from Somali pirates, the Indian Express reported 27 October. <b>According to unidentified sources, the ships will take up duty stations near Mauritius and the Seychelles.</b> <i>Means uncle's sources. See below about rpvs and USN in the area.</i>
Navy Captain Manohar Nambiar told the press that the Indian Navy has a presence in the region devoted to surveillance that is separate from the Navy ship already patrolling the Gulf of Aden. The guided missile frigate INS Trishul operates with international maritime forces off Aden.
<b>The two warships bound for the Seychelles </b>are the naval amphibious ship INS Shardul and Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel Varuna, which were originally on a "routine training and surveillance mission'' to the waters near Seychelles. Both have naval cadets aboard, but <b>are responding to a Seychelles request to prolong what was a training mission.</b>Â
Somali <b>pirate depredations near Mauritius and the Seychelles this summer afford India a legitimate cover</b> for maintaining a naval presence off the coast of Africa. <b>These deployments will provide India situational awareness in the western Indian Ocean, serving a purpose similar to Indiaâs base in the Andaman Islands at the mouth of the Malacca Strait in the eastern Indian Ocean. The Indians take seriously the name of the Ocean. Plus, they get to work with US navy remotely piloted aircraft and support crews in the Seychelles.</b>
Nevertheless, according to the Times of India, the External Affairs and Defence Ministries are considering several options for combating piracy off the Seychelles. <b>The government has not decided whether it should approve a "prolonged continuous deployment of Indian warships in those waters, like the ongoing one in the Gulf of Aden. â</b>
According to the Times, <b>in the last 12 months, Indian Navy ships have escorted 644 merchant ships across the 490 nautical mile-long "internationally recommended transit corridor'' in the Gulf of Aden, thwarting 13 piracy attempts since October 2008. India's annual imports through the Gulf of Aden are valued at $50 billion, while exports are estimated at $60 billion.</b>
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