The Indian navy successfully captures a vessel from some Somali pirates and recovers its crew. On Saturday, an Indian naval vessel recovered a bulk carrier off the coast of Somalia, evacuating the crew and bringing an end to a three-month hijacking.

The Maltese-flagged vessel named MV Ruen was hijacked by the Somali pirates in December close to the Yemeni island of Socotra, around km off Somalia.

#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

Video Credits: Indian Navy/Twitter

The Indian navy announced the capture on X, stating that one of the naval vessels had surrounded and forced 35 pirates to surrender over the last 40 hours, facilitating the secure release of 17 members of the crew from the pirate vessel.

On Friday, these pirates opened up fire on India’s navy ship in international waters, prompting India’s navy to urge pirates to surrender and release the vessel and civilians they could be holding. Increased piracy off Somalia Before the hijacking of the Ruen on 14 December, no cargo vessel was successfully boarded by the Somali pirates in 2017.

However, India’s navy has recorded nearly 17 incidents of hijacking, attempted hijacking, and suspicious approaches since December, according to India’s officials.

In January 2024, India sent at least a dozen vessels to regions east of the Red Sea to protect against piracy and inspected over 250 vessels. On Thursday, the EU Naval Force cautioned that the Ruen may be used by the pirates as a “mothership” to launch additional attacks.

Reference: Reuters