INS ''Sumitra'' is the fourth and last ''Saryu''-class patrol vessel of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

, designed and constructed by

Goa Shipyard Limited Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) is a public sector undertaking for defence ship building located on the West Coast of India at Vasco da Gama, Goa. It was established in 1957, originally by the colonial government of the Portuguese in India as the "E ...

. It is also the

presidential yacht Presidential yacht may refer to a vessel of a country's navy that would be specially used by the country's president. It is common for a vessel to be designated as the presidential yacht during a fleet review. Some countries (below) have vessels ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is designed to undertake fleet support operations, coastal and offshore patrolling, ocean surveillance and monitoring of sea lines of communications and offshore assets and escort duties.

Construction

The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

of INS ''Sumitra'' was laid at Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) on 28 April 2010, and she was launched on 6 December 2010. During her construction at GSL, she was known as Yard 1211.

Service history

INS ''Sumitra'' completed her sea trials and was handed over to the Indian Navy on 18 July 2014, and was commissioned into the fleet by the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan on 4 September 2014 in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. She will operate under the

Eastern Naval Command The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...

and conduct maritime surveillance and coastal security missions. Her first Commanding Officer is Commander Milind Mokashi.

Operation Raahat

Naseem Al Bahr maritime exercise 2022

INS ''Sumitra'' took part in the 13th edition of Indo-Oman maritime exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ (Sea Breeze) along with the Indian Navy's INS ''Trikand'' and

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. 245 were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics ...

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * M ...

and RNOS ''Al-Seeb'' and ''Al-Shinas'' from 19–24 November 2022.

BAE Systems Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, subsonic, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. Its aluminum alloy fuselage is of conventional string-frame construction. It was first known as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produc ...

of the

Royal Air Force of Oman The Royal Air Force of Oman ( or RAFO) is the air arm of the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Oman. History Sultan of Oman's Air Force era The Sultan of Oman's Air Force (SOAF) was formed with United Kingdom, British personnel an ...

also participated in the exercise.

Operation Sankalp: 2023-24 Anti-piracy patrols

On 29 January 2024, INS Sumitra successfully rescued

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

hijacked by

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

along the East coast of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

and the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

. The naval warship was responding to a distress message regarding hijacking of an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian-flagged Fishing Vessel (FV) ''Iman''. The fishing boat had been boarded by pirates and its 17-member crew was taken hostage. Acting in accordance with the established Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) the crew successfully coerced the pirates for the safe release of the crew along with the boat & ensured the successful release of all 17 crew members along with the boat. The FV was subsequently sanitised and released for onward transit. Less than 24 hours later, INS Sumitra rescued 19

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

sailors after pirates hijacked their

fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

off the east coast of

the previous day. Eleven armed pirates climbed onto another

ian-flagged fishing vessel ''FV Al Naeemi'' and took 19 crew members, all Pakistanis, as

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

. The Navy warship intercepted the fishing vessel and coerced the pirates to release the hostages. The Navy warship intercepted the fishing vessel and forced the pirates to release the hostages with the help of

MARCOS Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) * Marcos family Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Né ...

, a special forces unit of the Indian Navy, onboard. The warship intercepted the vessel on January 29 and surrounded it. The aggressive posturing by INS Sumitra aimed to compel pirates to surrender and leave the ship. Warning shots were then fired in the water to pressurise the Somali pirates who had taken control of the vessel the Indian Navy deployed its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, which flew over the ship, a psychological tactic used by the Navy to create fear in the mind of the enemy to force a surrender. The Somali pirates were scared to see the Indian Navy and dumped their weapons when INS Sumitra approached closer. Armed with Tavor TAR-21, an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

and other combat gear, the MARCOS brought the pirates and were disarmed. No injuries were reported in the swift operation conducted by the Navy, which captured Kalashnikovs and several mobile and

satellite phone A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio link through satellites orbiting the Earth instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. Therefo ...

s from their possession. The incident took place in Southern

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

approximately 850 nautical miles west of

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, and prevented misuse of these fishing vessels as

mother ship A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft. Examples include bomber aircraft, bombers converted to carry exp ...

s for further acts of piracy on Merchant Vessels.

Gallery

References

External links

* http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/navy-to-commission-ins-sumitra-on-september-4/articleshow/41515712.cms {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumitra 2010 ships Ships built in India Patrol vessels of the Indian Navy Royal and presidential yachts