New Delhi: Concerned over rising instances of piracy off the Somali coast in the Gulf of Aden, India is readying an initial 100-man team to protect its merchant vessels in the area. This is the first time armed personnel will be deployed aboard cargo ships.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will take on the responsibility of securing the merchant vessels, under a proposal mooted by the ministry of shipping and, as a pilot project, will train 100 of its personnel for the purpose, a government source told IANS.
"CISF will train 100 of its special commandos who will man Indian merchant ships and protect them against pirate attacks at sea," the source said.
"The modalities are being worked out. The training is likely to be conducted in coordination with the Indian Navy's marine commandos (MARICOS)," the source, who wished not to be identified, told IANS....
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08:32 PM, Sep 16, 2012
Mumbai: A fire broke out in a merchant vessel on Sunday afternoon off the Mumbai coast. The ship, MV Amsterdam Bridge, was going to Colombo from Mumbai and was allegedly carrying hazardous cargo. Two Coast Guard ships, ICGS Samudra Prahari and ICGS Subhadra Kumari Chouhan have been sent to the spot and were monitoring the situation. Coast Guard officials suspect that the fire erupted in the engine room of the...
08:26 PM, Sep 09, 2012
Tehran: An Iranian semiofficial news agency says a parliamentary committee has approved a bill requiring the government to design nuclear-powered merchant ships and provide them with nuclear fuel. Iran says it is designing a nuclear submarine. But nuclear-powered ships other than warships are rare and the International Atomic Energy Agency has said in the past that such merchant ships would be uneconomical. The bill appears to be a symbolic gesture...
09:32 AM, Jul 16, 2012
Portland, Maine: A treasure hunter said on Wednesday that he has located the wreck of a British merchant ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Cape Cod during World War II while carrying what he claims was a load of platinum bars now worth more than $3 billion. If the claim proves true, it could be one of the richest sunken treasures ever discovered. But an attorney for...
02:49 PM, Feb 02, 2012
New Delhi: The Somali Government has asked India to return the 43 pirates who were arrested off the Lakshwadeep coast in two separate operations recently, so that they can be put on trial in their country, police said. Somalia's demand came in response to an Indian request for an interpreter from the Somali embassy for conducting investigations. In the past cases of a similar nature, India has never handed over...
03:30 PM, Feb 19, 2011
Somali pirates had originally demanded $40,000, but scaled down demand based on their valuation of ship's cargo. ...
06:36 PM, Apr 05, 2007
Pirates have hijacked a merchant ship with 14 Indian crewmembers and a cargo of 800 tonnes in Somali waters. ...
03:21 AM, Apr 04, 2007
