Muscat: Nato flagship HNLMS Evertsen ended a nine-day ordeal of seven hijacked Indian and Bangladeshi seamen after a rescue operation on Friday.
The two-day rescue operation ended the attacks on merchant vessels in the Arabian Sea by a group of suspected pirates, who used the pirated dhow for piracy.
Seven suspected Somali pirates were also captured in the raid.
The Royal Navy of Oman’s Al Mu’azzar vessel assisted HNLMS Evertsen in rescuing crew members of traditional Omani dhow Al Boom, which the suspected Somali pirates hijacked on June 20.
The Nato frigate recovered the boat 145 nautical miles southwest of Ras Darbat Ali. After the rescue operations the medical staff on board RNO vessel Al Mu’azzar treated all the seven crew members before towing Al Boom to Salalah Port where it was handed over to the owner.
According to a report on Monday in navaltoday.com, MV Namrun a Maltese flagged bulk carrier sent an SOS on June 27 that an unknown dhow had attempted to attack it and shots were fired. The Dutch frigate Evertsen responded to the call.
After an intensive search, aided by a Japanese Maritime Patrol Aircraft, the Lynx helicopter of Evertsen detected the dhow in the Yemeni territorial waters.
As the dhow attempted to escape the hijacked crew jumped overboard. They were brought to safety and the Dutch marines, who detained the seven suspected pirates, secured the dhow.
