INS Talwar comes to aid of stranded cargo ship MV Nayan near Oman.
The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Talwar, which is currently deployed in the Gulf of Oman, received a broadcast call from a stranded merchant cargo ship, MV Nayan. The crew onboard requested the Indian Navy for technical assistance. The cargo ship which was in transit from Oman, was headed to Iraq.
On March 9, the vessel started drifting at sea. According to sources, this was due to three main reasons: failure of the vessel’s propulsion, power generation machinery and navigational equipment.
Based on preliminary aerial assessment about the distress of MV Nayan, the naval ship dispatched its VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) team along with a technical team by boat to offer assistance to the cargo vessel that had seven Indian nationals as her crew.
“The naval teams worked continuously for seven hours onboard MV Nayan to operationalise her equipment — both generators, steering pump, seawater pump, compressor and main engine — thereby making the vessel seaworthy again,” said a senior source.
The naval team also assisted in operationalising the very critical navigation equipment like GPS and navigation lights before MV Nayan could proceed towards her next port.
INS Talwar, which leads the Talwar-class frigates of the Indian Navy, was built in Russia, and commissioned into the Indian Navy on June 18, 2003. The multirole frigate has participated in various operations and exercises since her commissioning, including anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia.
