The Indian Navy Freed the Hijacked Fishing Vessel Azini Off Somalia on 2 November 2026 and Rescued All 20 Crew, Using a Warship, a Patrol Aircraft and Marine Commandos Reinforced by an Air Force C-17

The Indian Navy freed the fishing vessel Azini from armed pirates in the Arabian Sea on 2 November 2026 and brought out all 20 crew, according to the Ministry of Defence. The ministry said the operation ran for more than 48 hours and ended with no casualties or injuries. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who announced the result, said it took place more than 3,000 kilometres from Mumbai.

A warship on mission deployment and a maritime reconnaissance aircraft found the vessel and tracked it. Marine Commandos were then reinforced by a precision airdrop from an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 transport aircraft. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) posted the ministry’s account at 8:45 am on 3 November. Dates and figures below are as of 6 November 2026.

What the ministry says the Navy did

The PIB release says the Azini was hijacked “earlier last month” by an armed pirate group off the north-eastern coast of Somalia. It adds that the vessel could have been used as a “mother ship”, a seized boat from which pirates attack merchant shipping.

The Navy tasked a warship to intervene, with a maritime reconnaissance aircraft in support. The release says the two platforms located the vessel after persistent surveillance, followed its movements and used “calibrated non-kinetic measures” to stop it escaping. The Marine Commandos then carried out what the release calls a tactical intervention, secured the vessel and overcame the pirate threat.

The release does not name the ship. ThePrint reported that it was INS Kolkata, supported by a P8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft and a Sea Guardian drone, and defenceWeb said later reporting identified the ship as INS Kolkata.

Four days from hijack to release

The EU’s Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO) reported that armed pirates took control of the Iranian dhow on Thursday 29 October off north-eastern Somalia. The Associated Press (AP) placed the seizure between Bandar Bayla and Hafun, on Somalia’s Puntland coast.

By a later MSCIO update, reported by Maritime Executive and Splash247, the dhow had moved about 110 nautical miles further east to 09°47’ N, 055°45’ E, closer to a commonly used merchant route. Splash247 said the European Union’s Operation Atalanta was investigating, and that nothing confirmed the Azini had been used in an attack.

Singh’s post dates the rescue to 2 November. Baird Maritime and Dryad Global both report that MSCIO later recorded Atalanta’s confirmation that the dhow had been liberated, and closed the incident, and Dryad dates that confirmation to 2 November. IranWire adds that Atalanta had confirmed the hijacking on 29 October. The PIB release does not say when the 48 hours of the operation began.

Why a fishing boat drew a warship

A captured fishing boat can carry pirates, supplies and small attack craft far beyond the range of a speedboat launched from the coast. Maritime Executive wrote that the Azini matched the profile of vessels pirates prefer for that role, and said MSCIO repeated its warning that the dhow might serve as a mothership. Dryad Global makes the same point about captured dhows and the exposure of merchant ships farther offshore.

The security firm Windward, quoted by MarineLink, counted the Azini as the first confirmed hijacking of the fourth quarter and the fourth confirmed hijacking of a dhow or fishing vessel off Somalia in 2026. It added that many Iranian dhows in the area carry no IMO numbers and often run with their tracking transponders off.

Baird Maritime reports that the Joint Maritime Information Center rated the threat level in the Somali Basin as moderate before the rescue, and that the end of the south-west monsoon on 15 October had made skiff operations farther offshore more feasible. Dryad Global gives the same reading.

The wider count of Somali piracy in 2026

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported on 15 October that 51 piracy and armed robbery incidents were recorded worldwide from January to September 2026, the lowest nine-month figure since 1992, against 116 a year earlier. Within that total, it recorded a rise in Somali activity: eight vessel hijackings by Somali pirates and 94 per cent of all crew taken hostage worldwide. Most hijacked vessels were released with their crews reported safe.

The IMB also said these incidents are not comparable in scale or reach to the deep-sea piracy of 2008 to 2013. AP, in its report on the Azini, described the Honour 25 case: the tanker was held from April, and in September Puntland authorities said pirates had killed five of its crew before security forces recovered it.

The Navy’s earlier long-range rescue, MV Ruen in 2024

On 16 March 2024 the Ministry of Defence announced the end of another long-range operation, against the hijacked bulk carrier MV Ruen. The PIB release of that day says INS Kolkata worked for more than 40 hours about 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) from mainland India. An IAF C-17 air-dropped Marine Commandos, 35 pirates surrendered, and all 17 original crew were evacuated without injury.

The Navy led the Combined Maritime Forces’ training task force until 14 October 2026, and that tenure included a two-day symposium on piracy on 5 and 6 October, covered in the CTF 154 article. The wider partnerships behind such deployments are described in the Indian Ocean security article, and the Navy’s year of new ships in its 2026 commissioning record.

The legal framework

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 100, says all states shall cooperate to the fullest possible extent in repressing piracy on the high seas. Article 105 says that on the high seas every state may seize a pirate ship, or a ship taken by piracy and under the control of pirates, and arrest the persons on board. The courts of the seizing state may decide the penalties.

India ratified the convention on 29 June 1995, and the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022 (No. 3 of 2023, assent 31 January 2023) applies to the high seas. It gives a Designated Court, a Court of Session named for the purpose, jurisdiction over a person apprehended by or held in the custody of authorised personnel, defined as Navy and Coast Guard officers and sailors among others, regardless of nationality. The PIB release on the Azini does not say that anyone was taken into custody.

What was said afterwards

Singh congratulated the Navy in a post on X for what he called a “meticulously coordinated 48-hour operation”, and credited the IAF with timely support. The Navy’s release says the operation reflects India’s commitment to remaining a “First Responder” and “Preferred Security Partner” in the Indian Ocean Region.

Iran’s embassy in New Delhi, in a post on X reported by the Tribune and ThePrint, expressed “sincere appreciation to the Government of India, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force” for rescuing the 20 Iranian crew members.

Where the accounts differ

The AP reported that a Puntland Maritime Police Force officer had said on 1 November that the boat carried 21 Iranian crew and two Somali security guards, a total of 23. The ministry’s figure is 20 crew rescued. NPR’s version of the AP report notes that the ministry did not say whether its statement covered everyone aboard or only the rescued crew, and that it was unclear whether the crew remained on the vessel.

The same Puntland officer, who spoke anonymously, told AP that Indian forces disarmed 12 suspected Somali pirates, took their mobile phones and released them, and that they and the two guards later came ashore at Bandar Bayla. He said three of those ashore had minor injuries, without saying who they were, and that regional authorities learned of the rescue only afterwards. The PIB release says the Navy overcame the pirate threat and does not describe what happened to the armed men. Its line of no casualties or injuries appears in the sentence about the 20 crew, and NPR notes it does not say whether it covers everyone aboard.