NEW DELHI: An Indian warship thwarted a piracy attempt on a Liberian-registered merchant vessel, MV Lord Mountbatten , in a swift operation on Tuesday by deploying an armed helicopter and marine commandos in the Gulf of Aden Deployed for anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since April 6, offshore patrol vessel INS Sharda swung into action after receiving a distress call from MV Lord Mountbatten around 230 nautical miles south-west of Salalah (Oman) at 4.45pmon Tuesday.“The merchant vessel reported that two suspected pirate ‘mother vessels’, along with seven to eight skiffs, were showing malicious intent. INS Sharda, which was 30 nautical miles to the east at that time, immediately responded. On reaching the spot at 7pm, INS Sharda detected the two dhows with their skiffs,” said a Naval officer.“Three skiffs fled the area at high speeds on sighting the Indian warship. The boarding team of the marine commandos, supported by the armed helicopter, found no fishing gear on board the dhows and the remaining skiffs. But one automatic Kalashnikov rifle, with 28 rounds, was found hidden on one of the dhows. The weapon was confiscated to prevent illegal misuse in the future,” he added.