The Indian Navy rescued 20 crew members from an Iranian fishing vessel after it was hijacked off Somalia, completing a more than 48-hour operation in the Arabian Sea on 2 November 2026. The Ministry of Defence said the action involved an Indian warship, a maritime surveillance aircraft and Marine Commandos, or MARCOS.
The vessel, Azini, was seized on 29 October in the waters between Bandar Bayla and Hafun. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the boat was secured more than 3,000 kilometres from Mumbai. The Indian Navy tracked the vessel by sea and air before intervening, according to the Ministry of Defence.
An Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft airdropped additional commandos during the operation, the ministry said. The deployment was undertaken after concern that the hijacked fishing boat could be used as a floating base for attacks against commercial shipping. The Ministry of Defence said the operation concluded without casualties or injuries.
Different accounts on the pirates and crew
An official of the Puntland Maritime Police Force told The Associated Press that Indian personnel disarmed 12 suspected Somali pirates, took their mobile phones and released them. The official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to brief the media, said the suspects and two Somali security guards later reached Bandar Bayla in northeastern Somalia.
The same Puntland official said three of those who came ashore had minor injuries, but did not clarify whether they were among the suspected pirates or the security guards. The Ministry of Defence’s account said there were no casualties or injuries during the operation. The two accounts therefore differ on the reported condition of people who came ashore.
- Vessel: Iranian fishing boat Azini
- Rescued: 20 crew members, according to India’s Ministry of Defence
- Hijacking: 29 October 2026, between Bandar Bayla and Hafun
- Operation completed: 2 November 2026 in the Arabian Sea
- Indian assets involved: warship, maritime surveillance aircraft, MARCOS and an Air Force C-17
Operation follows renewed piracy activity
A Puntland maritime police officer had earlier said that the vessel carried 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali security guards. The difference between that figure and India’s account of 20 rescued crew members was not immediately explained. The Ministry of Defence also did not state whether all those aboard remained on Azini or were transferred elsewhere.
The rescue came amid a reported resurgence of Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean. By August, pirates had hijacked six commercial vessels since April, including the oil products tanker Sibu 1, according to the account carried by The Associated Press. Some of the vessels were seized at considerable distances from Somalia’s coast.
The operation adds to the Indian Navy’s recent anti-piracy activity in waters used by international shipping. Its use of surface, air and special-forces assets in this case reflects the operational demands of locating, containing and securing a hijacked vessel far from India’s coastline. The Ministry of Defence’s stated concern over the boat being used against commercial ships also places the rescue within the wider effort to protect merchant traffic in the western Indian Ocean.
