India's navy said Friday it had rescued 19 crew members aboard a vessel hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, the third such operation this week after a spate of attacks on shipping in the region.
An Indian patrol boat intercepted the FV Omari in the "early hours" of Friday to successfully "coerce the pirates for safe release of crew along with the vessel", a navy statement said.
The vessel was located by a remotely piloted aircraft that was undertaking surveillance in the area.
Earlier this week India's navy freed an Iranian fishing vessel hijacked by Somali pirates.
The rescue took place overnight Monday off the Somali coast, some 850 nautical miles (1,574 kilometres) west of the Indian city of Kochi.
The hijackings off Somalia have fuelled concerns about a resurgence of Indian Ocean raids by opportunistic pirates, coming on top of a separate surge in attacks launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
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