Navy Helps Put Out Fire On Missile-Hit Merchant Ship Carrying 22 Indians

A fire fighting team from an Indian Navy warship extinguished a massive fire onboard a merchant ship on Saturday night after the vessel was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden.

INS Visakhapatnam responded to a SOS call from merchant vessel Marlin Launda after it was targeted by missile on Saturday. The oil tanker has 22 Indians and one Bangladeshi national on board.

Fire onboard MV #MarlinLuanda brought under control

Based on request from Master of the MV, the fire fighting team from #INSVisakhapatnam comprising 10 Indian Naval personnel with specialist fire fighting equipment embarked the vessel in early hours of #27Jan 24.
After six… https://t.co/d5yxgWI42Y pic.twitter.com/RsLPKOpXTU

The strike comes as Yemen's Houthi rebels are increasingly attacking merchant vessels in the Red Sea amid the raging Israel-Hamas conflict. 

In a statement, the Indian Navy said that a team of 10 firefighters brought the fire under control after six hours. 

"Fire onboard MV #MarlinLuanda brought under control. After six hours of battling the fire along with the crew of the MV, the fire fighting team has successfully brought the fire under control. The team is currently monitoring the situation to rule out any possibility of reignition," the Navy said, adding that a US and French warship also responded to the vessel's distress call.