Dramatic ops on high seas: Indian Navy rescues hijacked vessel MV Ruen, arrests 35 Somali pirates

After a dramatic operation, the Indian Navy rescued a hijacked merchant vessel - MV Ruen - and arrested 35 Somali pirates, the Indian Navy officials said on Saturday. MV Ruen, a merchant vessel, had been hijacked by Somali pirates on December 14, 2023. It was reported to have sailed out as a pirate ship towards conducting acts of piracy on the high seas. A warship of The Indian Navy intercepted the vessel on March 15. 

After an operation, the Indian Navy secured the vessel's release after over three months. The Indian Navy had forced the pirates to surrender after a major operation on the high seas.

The Navy deployed its P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, frontline ships INS Kolkata and INS Subhadra, and high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle. The elite MARCOS commandos were air-dropped for the operation by C-17 aircraft.

“INS Kolkata, in the last 40 hours, through concerted actions successfully cornered and coerced all 35 Pirates to surrender and ensured safe evacuation of 17 crew members in the evening today from the pirate vessel without any injury,” Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said. 

In the operation, Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft had picked up Marine Commandos in large numbers from an air base on the west coast of India and air-dropped them in the Arabian Sea near the hijacked vessel around 2600 Km away from Indian shores. 

Sharing the details of the operations, officials said special boats of commandos were airdropped separately on the location in which they moved towards the vessel and carried out the operation. 

The Indian Navy is bringing the merchant vessel MV Ruen to the Indian coast. "The vessel is carrying a huge amount of steel. The pirates had fired at the Indian Navy’s assets before surrendering before Marine Commandos," the officials were quoted as saying by ANI. 

In the last few weeks, the Indian Navy assisted several merchant vessels in the Western Indian Ocean following attacks on them.

The Indian Navy, earlier this month, foiled a piracy attempt on an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel with a crew of 11 Iranian and eight Pakistani nationals along the East coast of Somalia.

In January, Indian warship INS Sumitra rescued 19 Pakistani crew of a fishing vessel after pirates on the east coast of Somalia attacked their Iranian-flagged fishing vessel.

The Navy on January 5 thwarted an attempted hijacking of Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lila Norfolk in the North Arabian Sea and rescued all its crew members.

(With inputs from agencies)