Battle off Minicoy Island
Encyclopedia
The Battle off Minicoy Island was a single ship action in January 2011 between India
n naval forces and Somali pirates, during Operation Island Watch. Pirates in the former Thai
fishing trawler
Prantalay 14 resisted and attacked the Indian Navy
warship Cankarso
and, in a long surface action off Minicoy Island
, the Indians sank the hostile ship and rescued twenty captives.
Dornier
aircraft on a routine patrol detected two skiff
s and the Prantalay 14 chasing the Bahamian container ship
MV Verdi 300 miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands
. The pirates in the skiffs spotted the aircraft and immediately abandoned the attack and sailed back to the Prantalay 14. The aircraft reported the sighting and three Indian Navy ships were dispatched, including the 325 ton INS Cankarso. A Car Nicobar
fast attack craft
under the command of First Lieutenant
Arun Bahuguna. Cankarso was armed with a 30-millimeter CRN 91
naval gun and two 12.7-millimeter machine gun
s. A few hours after receiving the Coast Guard's report Cankarso found the Prantalay 14 about 100 nautical miles north of Minicoy. The Cankarsos radioman tried to contact the pirates, but was ignored, so a warning shot was fired towards the pirates, who returned fire with rocket propelled grenade
s and AK-47
s. An exchange of fire commenced and lasted for twelve hours before shots from the CRN 9 heavily damaged the trawler.
Fuel drums that were stowed on the upper deck ignited and the Prantalay 14 began to burn. At that point the survivors abandoned ship so the Indians ceased firing. Thirty-five men went into the water, of whom fifteen were pirates and twenty were Thai and Myanmar
ese sailors on the vessel when the pirates captured it. Ten pirates were killed in the engagement, and the rest were taken to Mumbai
in the Cankarso as prisoners. There are no indications that any Indian sailors were harmed. Mumbai Police have confirmed that they have registered a case against the pirates for attempt to murder and various other provisions under the Indian Penal Code
and Foreigners Act after entering national waters without authorization. Prantalay 14 burned for hours before sinking, during which the INS Kalpeni and the Coast Guard ship CGS Sankalp arrived and assisted in rescue operations. A week or so later, Indian naval forces of Operation Island Watch captured the Prantalay 11, another former Thai trawler which had been captured by pirates.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n naval forces and Somali pirates, during Operation Island Watch. Pirates in the former Thai
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
fishing trawler
Trawler
A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that are pulled along the bottom of the sea or in midwater...
Prantalay 14 resisted and attacked the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
warship Cankarso
Car Nicobar class fast attack craft
The Car Nicobar class of high-speed offshore patrol vessels are built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers for the Indian Navy. The vessels are designed as a cost-effective platform for patrol, anti-piracy and rescue operations in India's Exclusive Economic Zone.The class and its vessels are...
and, in a long surface action off Minicoy Island
Minicoy
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep and was formerly a part of Maldive Islands.-Etymology:...
, the Indians sank the hostile ship and rescued twenty captives.
Battle
The Prantalay 14 had operated as a pirate mothership in the Indian Ocean for several months before her sinking. Early in the morning of January 28, Indian Coast GuardCoast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
Dornier
Dornier
Dornier may refer to:* Claudius Dornier , German aircraft designer and builder** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier* Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project management company...
aircraft on a routine patrol detected two skiff
Skiff
The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...
s and the Prantalay 14 chasing the Bahamian container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
MV Verdi 300 miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...
. The pirates in the skiffs spotted the aircraft and immediately abandoned the attack and sailed back to the Prantalay 14. The aircraft reported the sighting and three Indian Navy ships were dispatched, including the 325 ton INS Cankarso. A Car Nicobar
Car Nicobar class fast attack craft
The Car Nicobar class of high-speed offshore patrol vessels are built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers for the Indian Navy. The vessels are designed as a cost-effective platform for patrol, anti-piracy and rescue operations in India's Exclusive Economic Zone.The class and its vessels are...
fast attack craft
Fast Attack Craft
Fast Attack Craft are small, fast, agile and offensive warships, that are armed with anti-ship missiles, guns or torpedoes. These are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the sea-keeping and all-round defensive capabilities to survive in blue water. The size of the vessel...
under the command of First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
Arun Bahuguna. Cankarso was armed with a 30-millimeter CRN 91
CRN 91 Naval Gun
The CRN-91 Naval gun is a naval version of the Medak 30mm automatic gun installed on the Sarath Infantry fighting vehicle, a variant of the Russian BMP-2 manufactured in India under license by the Ordnance Factory Medak...
naval gun and two 12.7-millimeter machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s. A few hours after receiving the Coast Guard's report Cankarso found the Prantalay 14 about 100 nautical miles north of Minicoy. The Cankarsos radioman tried to contact the pirates, but was ignored, so a warning shot was fired towards the pirates, who returned fire with rocket propelled grenade
Rocket propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade is a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon system which fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor and stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable while others are single-use. RPGs, with the exception of...
s and AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
s. An exchange of fire commenced and lasted for twelve hours before shots from the CRN 9 heavily damaged the trawler.
Fuel drums that were stowed on the upper deck ignited and the Prantalay 14 began to burn. At that point the survivors abandoned ship so the Indians ceased firing. Thirty-five men went into the water, of whom fifteen were pirates and twenty were Thai and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
ese sailors on the vessel when the pirates captured it. Ten pirates were killed in the engagement, and the rest were taken to Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in the Cankarso as prisoners. There are no indications that any Indian sailors were harmed. Mumbai Police have confirmed that they have registered a case against the pirates for attempt to murder and various other provisions under the Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862...
and Foreigners Act after entering national waters without authorization. Prantalay 14 burned for hours before sinking, during which the INS Kalpeni and the Coast Guard ship CGS Sankalp arrived and assisted in rescue operations. A week or so later, Indian naval forces of Operation Island Watch captured the Prantalay 11, another former Thai trawler which had been captured by pirates.