Indian Navy has successfully rescued 17 crew members of a hijacked cargo vessel MV Ruen and captured all 35 pirates from it. Indian Navy said, INS Kolkata intercepted the under-attack pirate ship which was sailing almost 2600 km from Indian shores and forced it to stop through calibrated actions. The operation, which lasted for the last 40 hours, was supported by the Indian warship INS Subhadra, High Altitude Long Endurance drones, P8I maritime patrol aircraft, and MARCOS PRAHARs. Later, the vessel was also sanitised for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition, and contraband.
The Maltese-flagged vessel was hijacked in December last year near the Yemeni island of Socotra. According to the European Union naval force, there are suspicions that the vessel may have served as a base for the takeover of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia earlier this week.
For over a decade, Somali pirates have been a source of turmoil in important global waterways. Since the 1st of December, at least 17 incidents of hijacking, attempted hijacking and suspicious approaches have been recorded by the Indian Navy.
