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OP RAHAT – INDIAN NAVY PROVIDES SUCCOR AND SAFE PASSAGE

Continuing with her rescue and evacuation mission, INS Sumitra entered the Al Hodeidah on the west coast of strife torn Yemen late in the evening on 02 April 2015 to evacuate the second batch of Indians fleeing the country. During this trip the ship embarked 306 Indian Nationals (251 men, 38 women, 17 children) to evacuate them from a country engulfed in conflict.  She was in port for a few hours and immediately departed for Djibouti after embarking the evacuees. The ship will reach Djibhouti around noon 03 April 15.  During her stay in Al Hodeidah the ship’s crew reported that shelling could be heard in the city.  All necessary precautions were observed to cater for emerging situations that may arise due to the ongoing skirmish in the vicinity.  She disembarked the evacuees at Djibouti this afternoon.

Considering that these people have gone through agony, faced threat to their lives and have been ousted from their homes, leaving all their belongings behind, instructions given to the ship by Headquarter Western Naval Command to ensure a comfortable stay for the evacuees during the passage. Thus, extensive arrangements were made by the ship’s crew even at the cost of their own comfort to ensure that all evacuees were well looked after.  Consequently, crew living quarters were cleared to accommodate women, elderly persons and children.  With the aim to evacuate, the maximum numbers of persons, male evacuees were accommodated on the upper deck, under the cover of shamianas.  The ship also arranged for hot meals for all evacuees. The ships galley (or kitchen) is designed to cater to only 100 persons (which is the strength of its crew). However, rising to the occasion ,two/three cooks of the ship worked night and day to provide for around three times their usual strength, using the ships own rations.

On their arrival on board, the ship’s Medical Officer attended to those in need of medical attention. Special care was provided to pregnant women and elderly persons.  The Captain and crew of Sumitra which is only a offshore patrol vessel have thereby gone beyond their call of duty to provide succour and relief to Indian Nationals fleeing war torn Yemen, even at great discomfort to themselves.

Operations Till Date.

With access to airports within the country being denied by warring fragments, sealift is the safest option presently available to evacuate people. INS Sumitra which was on an Anti Piracy Patrol in the Gulf of Aden was immediately pressed into action for the operation and entered Aden Port on the east coast of Yemen on the night of 31 March and 01 April 2015. The ship rescued 349 persons from the port of Aden where heavy fighting was reported.  C17 Globemaster III aircraft of the Indian Air Force were deployed to transfer these evacuees from Djibouti to Indian Shores.  Evacuees coming out of the C17 Globemaster expressed their gratitude to the Indian armed forces for rescuing them from the war zone.

 INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash were despatched on the night of 30 March 2015 from Mumbai. INS Mumbai is charging ahead to enter the Yemen port while INS Tarkash is escorting two ships from the Shipping Corporation of India (Ex Cochin). These vessels will enter the piracy ridden waters of the Gulf of Aden on 04 April 2015 to join in the rescue effort.

The Gulf of Aden comes under the operational area of the Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy.  A high level of coordination between various government agencies and the Indian Navy was achieved to rescue and evacuate our people from the troubled land.