Two Navy officers were among the 18 Shaurya Chakra awardees named on the eve of the 78th Independence Day. Captain Sharad Sinsunwal and Lt Commander Kapil Yadav were awarded for their roles in thwarting piracy and responding to ships facing drone attacks in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Another six officers and personnel were awarded gallantry medals for roles in thwarting piracy and other operations.
Captain Sharad Sinsunwal is presently the commanding officer of INS Kolkata. The ship was deployed for Operation ‘Piracy in the Gulf of Aden,’ on December 16, 2023.
The deployment was prompted by the continuous missile attacks by Houthi rebels on merchant vessels. A total of 27 attacks took place during the time INS Kolkata was in the region, severely damaging 13 ships and resulting in the loss of lives of sailors.
Several of these hits took place within a few miles of INS Kolkata, thereby putting the ship in real and continuous danger. An additional threat was from Somali pirates, who were using the unrest in the region to hijack merchant vessels. Notwithstanding these dangers, INS Kolkata repeatedly rendered assistance to missile-hit merchant vessels, rescuing 67 people and freeing 17 hostages from pirates. Four incidents stood out.
On February 22, a merchant vessel named Islander was attacked by two anti-ship ballistic missiles. The vessel called desperately for help. In response, Sinsunwal took the decision to rush to Islander’s assistance, despite the high possibility of the next missile hitting INS Kolkata. An explosive disposal and medical team was sent to the merchant vessel, rendering it safe for further voyages.
The second incident took place on March 4. The merchant vessel MSC Sky II was attacked by two Houthi ballistic missiles and was on fire. Its 13 Indian crew immediately called for help. INS Kolkata rushed to assist, sending a team onboard to douse the fire in three and a half hours.
Another incident occurred on March 6 when the merchant vessel True Confidence was hit by two Houthi missiles and was ablaze. After locating the crew members on a raft boat in a high risk zone, Captain Sinsuwal led INS Kolkata to their rescue. Out of the 24 crew members, three had died in the missile attack and three more had suffered critical injuries like amputated leg, facial burns and shrapnel in intestine. Despite the circumstances, all crew members were rescued.
The last incident took place from March 13-15 when INS Kolkata intercepted the hijacked Merchant Vessel Ruen. 35 pirates were holding the crew of 17 Bulgarians and Myanmarese as hostages. The pirates were armed with Rocket Propelled Grenades, machine guns and AK-47s. They fired on Kolkata and threatened to kill the hostages. In response, with a barrage of attacks from INS Kolkata, the pirates were forced to surrender and all the 17 hostages were rescued.
INS Kolkata, after these four incidents, garnered acclaim. For saving Philippine lives on True Confidence, their President thanked External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. For rescuing the Bulgarians onboard Ruen, their President wrote a note of thanks to the President of India. Furthermore, an acknowledgement of the ship’s efforts was also made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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