The major disruption caused by Yemeni Houthis in the Red Sea is hardly the only trouble spot in the world’s increasingly dangerous seas.
An Indian navy warship has intercepted a hijacked cargo ship in the Indian Ocean, safely rescued all 17 crew members, and detained all 35 Somali pirates.
The Indian navy vessel INS Kolkata came to the rescue of the Bulgarian ship MV Ruen, which was hijacked by pirates back on December 14, 2023. The operation lasted no less than 40 hours.
The hijacking of the Ruen was the first successful action by Somali pirates in the past six years, despite several international navies’ efforts to stop piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Reuters reported:
“The pirates who allegedly hijacked the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel on Dec. 14 opened fire on the navy ship in international waters on Friday [15], the spokesperson said without providing further details.”
The Indian navy called on the pirates to surrender and release the hostages.
“Somali pirates who seized the vessel in December may have used it in the takeover of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia this week, the European Union naval force said on Thursday.”
Somali pirates in control of the ship.
Until the Ruen was seized, there had been no successful hijacking of a merchant ship by Somali pirates since 2017.
Times of India reported:
“Assisted by INS Subhadra, [the Kolkata navy ship] on Saturday rescued all 17 crew-members without injury and forced all 35 pirates to surrender in a rescue operation that lasted 40 hours.
Kolkata had carried out the interception of the Pirate Ship Ruen almost [1600 miles] from the Indian Coast, and forced the pirate ship to stop through calibrated actions which were augmented by the [ship] Subhadra, [Drones] HALE RPA, P8I maritime patrol aircraft & [Marine Commandos] Marcos Prahars air-dropped by C-17 aircraft.”
The vessel was secured for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition, and contraband.
#IndianNavy thwarts designs of Somali pirates to hijack ships plying through the region by intercepting ex-MV Ruen.
The ex-MV Ruen, which had been hijacked by Somali pirates on #14Dec 23, was reported to have sailed out as a pirate ship towards conducting acts of #piracy on high… pic.twitter.com/gOtQJvNpZb
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 16, 2024
#IndianNavy thwarts designs of Somali pirates to hijack ships plying through the region by intercepting ex-MV Ruen.
The ex-MV Ruen, which had been hijacked by Somali pirates on #14Dec 23, was reported to have sailed out as a pirate ship towards conducting acts of #piracy on high… pic.twitter.com/gOtQJvNpZb
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 16, 2024
The post Lawless Seas: Indian Navy Raids and Rescues Cargo Ship Hijacked by Somali Pirates appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
