ID :
179109
Sun, 05/01/2011 - 09:47
Auther :

Iranian Warships Repel Pirate Attack on Bulk Ship

TEHRAN, May 1 (FNA)- An Iranian bulk ship carrying tons of goods could escape a pirate attack in the Arabian Sea due to the timely reaction of the Iranian Navy warships dispatched to the area.

The Iranian Navy announced on Saturday that its forces managed to save the vessel named 'Zarsan' which had come under attack by two speedboats 30 miles off the coasts of Pakistan's Karachi port.

The unknown pirates fled the scene after they came under the heavy fire of the Iranian fleet of warships.

This was the sixth encounter between the Iranian Navy warships and pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea in the current Iranian year (started on March 21).

On March 17, the Iranian Navy dispatched its 13th flotilla of warships to the Gulf of Aden to defend the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against the continued threat of attack by the Somali pirates.

Over the course of the last two years, the Iranian warships have successfully managed to display their powerful presence in the turmoil-stricken Gulf of Aden and foiled the Somali pirate attacks along the country's sea border.

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 via the Suez Canal.

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