Indian Navy responds to distress call as Houthi strike hits merchant ship in Gulf of Aden

All crew members, including 22 Indians and one Bangladeshi person, are safe, said the company operating the ship.

Jan 27, 2024 - 16:00

Indian Navy responds to distress call as Houthi strike hits merchant ship in Gulf of Aden

The Indian Navy said that it has deployed its guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam in response to a distress call from a merchant ship that was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile in the Gulf of Aden on Friday night.

The Houthi movement is a Yemen-based militant organisation backed by Iran.

The merchant ship named Marlin Luanda is carrying 22 Indians and one Bangladeshi crew member.

“The fire fighting efforts onboard the distressed Merchant Vessel is being augmented by the NBCD [Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence] team along with firefighting equipment, deployed by INS Visakhapatnam to assist the crew onboard the MV,” the Navy said in a tweet.

#IndianNavy's Guided missile destroyer, #INSVisakhapatnam, deployed in the #GulfofAden responded to a distress call from MV #MarlinLuanda on the night of #26Jan 24.
The fire fighting efforts onboard the distressed Merchant Vessel is being augmented by the NBCD team along with… pic.twitter.com/meocASF2Lo— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 27, 2024

The tanker is operated by multinational trading company Trafigura and flies under the flag of the Marshall Islands, reported the BBC. The French and the United States naval ships had also responded to the incident.

On Saturday, Trafigura said that all crew on board were safe and that the fire in a cargo tank had been put out. The ship is now sailing towards a safe...