The Indian navy has received formal approval from the United Nations to track down and destroy pirate ships in Somalian waters. Tuesday an Indian war ship sank a suspected Somali pirate ship after it opened fire in the Gulf of Aden. Piracy incidents like this have increased exponentially in number off the Somali coast.

Therefore, the UN has authorized India to go in “hot pursuit” of Somali pirates who, beyond being a local nuisance, have captured the world’s attention with their November 15 capture of the Sirius star, one of the largest oil tankers in the world, which was carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil worth $100 million and its crew of 25; it is the biggest vessel ever hijacked at sea.

"The UN approval, which allows Indian warships to enter Somali waters, has been conveyed to us recently," an Indian navy officer told press. "We can now enter the Somali territorial waters under certain circumstances. It would be only to check piracy,” he said.

India is going to work with navies from other countries in the region of the Indian Ocean, and it is going to send at least one more warship to the Gulf of Aden according to sources.

The destroyer INS Mysore would be deployed as early as next week say sources in the local media.

The navy is not officially confirming the report, stating that it will not discuss the deployment of its ships.

Sources in the navy however say that it is yet to be decided whether they would send a new warship to replace the INS Tabar, which sank the pirate ship this week or boost its operations.

The INS Tabar was deployed to the Gulf of Aden on October 23 and it has since acted as an escort for 35 ships through the pirate-infested waters.

According to India’s Directorate General of Shipping, seven Indian crew members are aboard the MV delight an Iranian cargo ship registered in Hong-Kong and hijacked by pirates on Tuesday. The rest of the 25 crewmembers included two Pakistanis, seven Filipinos, seven Iranians and two Ghanaians. The ship was bound for Iran carrying wheat.

Also a week ago, 18 Indian crew members of the Japanese cargo ship MV Stolt Valor were released by pirates who held them captive for two months.

Somalia has not had a stable national government since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, and what can be controlled of it is run by a transitional government. The rest is split into secessionist regions delimited by tribal interests and aspirations.

Recently African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping, Africa’s top diplomat, has been holding urgent talks on the issue of piracy with several European diplomats, and has also sent out a scathing message to the country’s feuding leaders, blaming their political bickering for the current state of affairs in the area.

India is one of several countries trying to keep the peace in the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, as it connects the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Upwards of 90 vessels have been attacked by pirates this year alone, and piracy in the Gulf and off the coast of East Africa is estimated to have cost up to $30 million in ransoms this year, say UK analysts.