Navy Thwarts Pirate Attack on Singaporean Vessel
Iranian Navy forces foiled a pirate attack on a Singaporean cargo vessel in the Red Sea after a series of heavy armed clashes with pirates.
The Iranian Navy’s 20th fleet of warships present in the region rushed to the scene after the Singaporean vessel asked for help and announced that it has come under a pirate attack as sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Iranian forces managed to save the vessel and forced the pirates to escape the scene after heavy arm clashes.
In a similar incident, the Iranian Navy warships also saved an Iranian oil tanker last week.
The Iranian Navy dispatched several fleets of warships to the Gulf of Aden and North of the Indian Ocean to protect the country’s cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.
The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.
According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.
The Gulf of Aden – which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea – is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West through the Suez Canal.
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