INS Teg lends assistance New Delhi. 29 August 2018. On 25 Aug 18, whilst patrolling in the piracy infested waters of Gulf of Aden, INS Teg, a warship of the Western Naval Command, received a call from a Combined Task Force aircraft for providing assistance to MV Vela, a Norwegian owned ship with an all Indian crew.

The vessel was in distress as her Port Anchor along with the entire 330 Red Sea and Suez Canalmtrs cable weighing approx 42 tons had inadvertently slipped and was hanging into the sea. This had severely disabled the ship with her speed being restricted to 5-6 knots, thus making her vulnerable to piracy attacks, apart from being a navigational hazard for herself as well as for other ships in the dense shipping corridor.

INS Teg quickly dispatched a specialist team to carry out an assessment of the situation and provided assistance for recovery of the anchor and cable. The team was lead by the ship’s Engineering Officer and comprised the other specialist officers, Seamanship Instructor, Anchor Chain Cable Specialist and Machinery Specialist.

Concerted efforts over three days finally resulted in the successful recovery of the anchor along with the entire 330 m of cable. This evolution not only ensured onward safe voyage of MV Vela, which had to subsequently transit through the constricted waters of Red Sea and Suez Canal, but also averted huge financial loss.