NEW DELHI: Indian navy vessel INS Kolkata came to the rescue of MV Ruen, a distressed navy vessel hijacked by pirates since December 14, 2023. Assisted by INS Subhadra, the navy rescued all 17 crew-members without injury and forced all 35 pirates to surrender in a rescue operation that lasted 40 hours.
#INSKolkata, in the last 40 hours, through concerted actions successfully cornered and coerced all 35 Pirates to surrender & ensured safe evacuation of 17 crew members in the evening today #16Mar 24 from the pirate vessel without any injury. #INSKolkata had carried out the interception of the Pirate Ship Ruen almost 1400 nm (2600km) from the Indian Coast, and forced the pirate ship to stop through calibrated actions which were augmented by #INSSubhadra, HALE RPA, P8I maritime patrol aircraft & #MARCOS PRAHARs air-dropped by C-17 aircraft. The vessel has also been sanitised for presence of illegal arms, ammunition and contraband, the navy spokesperson posted on X.
Earlier, the navy had intercepted a hijacked ship on March 15 and had given an ultimatum to the pirates to surrender and release all the hostages. According to the statement, the vessel opened fire on the warship, which is taking actions in self-defence & to counter piracy, with minimal force necessary to neutralise the pirates’ threat to shipping and seafarers.
An officer in December 2023, had stated that Bulk carrier MV Ruen was being constantly monitored by Indian guided-missile destroyer INS Kochi. The two warships are present in the area for any contingency, he said.
TOI had earlier reported that the Navy had swung into action after MV Ruen, with 18 crew members on board, sent a mayday call on the UKMTO portal on Thursday afternoon, with the alert that it had been boarded by ‘around six unknown persons’.
MV Ruen was run by a Bulgarian company called Navigation Maritime Bulgare. The hijacking was the first incident in the past five to six years, despite efforts from several international navies to stop piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
