November 15 - As a British couple were celebrating being released after a year's captivity by Somali pirates, the Indian navy was foiling an attempt to hijack a heavylift ship and saving 14 crew members.
According to reports in the Indian media, BBC Orinoco was subjected to an early morning attack about 450 nautical miles off the Indian coast where the crew barricaded themselves in the ship's engine room and steering compartment. They alerted their shipping line agent in Dubai by email who subsequently contacted the Indian navy.
The navy deployed two ships and a long-range maritime patrol aircraft conducted an aerial survey. The crew were rescued and the ship was then searched for the hijackers.
The action comes after fellow heavylift shipping line Beluga Shipping saw one of its ships and crew seized and then freed after just one day without a cent of ransom being paid.
Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Beluga said at the time that investments into security and training had paid off, as well as the rapid intervention of the joint naval forces which had deployed a warship alongside the Beluga ship within hours, giving the pirates no other option than to give up ransom demands and go on the run.
